We beat Valero and BlackRock!

October 27, 2023 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, [My questioning of Summit witnesses on behalf of Bold Iowa at the IUB hearing on September 7 can be found here on pages 2269-2278, 2402-2415, and 2456-2462.] The Navigator CO2 Pipeline — brought to you by the warm-and-fuzzy corporate duo of Valero and BlackRock — is officially dead. That’s right. We, the People, beat two Fortune 500 companies! CO2 pipeline proposals by Summit and Wolf remain live rounds. But landowners along the Wolf route haven’t heard a peep from Wolf since March. And Summit just announced its Continue reading →

DSM airport expansion is a climate issue

October 4, 2023 by Ed Fallon
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VOTE “NO” ON AIRPORT EXPANSION by Ed Fallon (an opinion piece submitted to local media, October 4, 2023) If you’re a resident of Polk County and concerned about (1) fiscal responsibility, (2) CO2 pipelines, or (3) climate change, vote “NO” on November 7 on the proposed $350 million bond to expand the Des Moines International Airport. (1) Fiscal responsibility. Debt always carries risk, and $350 million would be by far the largest debt Polk County taxpayers have ever incurred. That level of debt is also likely Continue reading →

Iowa Capital Dispatch: Iowa utility regulators want to finish Summit hearing by month’s end

September 13, 2023 by Ed Fallon
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Iowa utility regulators want to finish Summit hearing by month’s end BY: JARED STRONG – SEPTEMBER 12, 2023 6:12 PM READ ORIGINAL STORY HERE The Iowa Utilities Board seeks to complete an evidentiary hearing for Summit Carbon Solutions’ pipeline proposal by the end of September, according to a recent board order. Summit’s hearing is in its fourth week. The company seeks a hazardous liquid pipeline permit in Iowa as part of its five-state project that would transport captured carbon dioxide from ethanol plants for underground Continue reading →

Bold Iowa calls on IUB to suspend Summit pipeline hearing

September 12, 2023 by Ed Fallon
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With the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission voting unanimously yesterday to reject Summit Carbon Solutions’ request for a permit to build a CO2 pipeline across the state, Bold Iowa called on the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) to suspend Summit’s hearing for construction of the pipeline in Iowa. That hearing is now in its third week of deliberation. “It makes no sense for the IUB to continue Summit’s hearing,” said Bold Iowa director, Ed Fallon. “North Dakota rejected Summit’s permit application in August. Now South Dakota has spoken. Close to 80 percent of Iowans oppose eminent domain to build a pipeline. Enough is enough. The responsible course is for the IUB is to suspend Summit’s hearing immediately.”

Blog for Iowa: Update on CO2 Pipelines

November 22, 2022 by Ed Fallon
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by Paul Deaton November 17, 2022 [Click here for the original story.] While driving to the Democratic office in North Liberty after a shift of door knocking, I passed a seemingly endless line of black tank cars waiting to be loaded with ethanol or corn syrup in Cedar Rapids. That Iowa’s vast agricultural promise, countless thousands of acres of fertile soil, would come to this is saddening and frustrating. As a state we’ve become entrenched with what we know (i.e. corn growing) and don’t want Continue reading →

Court rules in favor of landowners sued by Navigator

October 20, 2022 by Ed Fallon
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Pipeline survey injunction hearings to be delayed to next year BY: JARED STRONG – OCTOBER 14, 2022 4:12 PM The Navigator CO2 Ventures pipeline would bisect the state from northwest to southeast. (Iowa Utilities Board filing) Navigator CO2 Ventures will not get access to several properties to conduct land surveys before the ground freezes this year, according to court records. The company — which seeks to build a carbon dioxide pipeline across the entire state — sued four sets of northern Iowa landowners in August, Continue reading →

Blog: Stopping Putin through climate action

March 11, 2022 by Ed Fallon
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CO2 PIPELINE UPDATE: On February 1, Summit Carbon Solutions CEO, Bruce Rastetter, said, “we’ve had early success signing hundreds of pipeline easements with farmers who have a vested interest in our success.” Really? A report out today by Reuters shows that less than 2 percent of Iowa landowners have signed up along the proposed 703-mile route. If that’s what Rastetter calls success, I wonder what failure looks like. At any rate, kudos to landowners for standing strong and not letting Summit bully them into a Continue reading →

IUB: Objection from Bold Iowa, 12/06/2021

December 6, 2021 by Ed Fallon
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Dt: December 6, 2021 To: IUB staff and board members Fr: Ed Fallon on behalf of Bold Iowa Re: Eminent domain Bold Iowa is deeply concerned about the appropriate use of eminent domain. The issue is important to me personally as well. As a former state lawmaker, preventing the misuse of eminent domain was one of my top legislative priorities. On at least two occasions during my time at the Statehouse, legislators voted with little dissent to add to the Iowa code further protections for Continue reading →