South Dakota Seeks To Educate President Trump On CO2
Resolution introduced urging President Trump to NOT utilize eminent domain power over the wishes of South Dakotan on CO2 projects; North Dakota should follow their lead.
Fresh off their victory in the House this week on HB 1052…
…the South Dakota Legislature will have an opportunity to send President Trump a message: don’t push your own voters around!
A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION, Affirming the state's rejection of carbon dioxide pipelines and urging President Donald Trump to avoid interfering with the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon dioxide pipeline through exercise of federal eminent domain powers.
WHEREAS, South Dakotans oppose federal overreach and prefer state and local government to be free from federal intervention; and
WHEREAS, the voters of this state have rejected legislative attempts to expedite the approval of the Summit Carbon Solutions carbon dioxide pipeline project by voting against Referred Law 21 by fifty-nine and two-fifths percent of the vote in November 2024; and
WHEREAS, the House of Representatives of the One Hundredth Legislature of the State of South Dakota passed House Bill 1052, with a vote of 49-19, to prohibit the exercise of eminent domain for a pipeline that carries carbon oxide; and
WHEREAS, U.S. Const. amend. V prohibits the taking of private property for public use without just compensation; and
WHEREAS, South Dakotans generally oppose federal policies associated with the Green New Deal and federal tax dollars being used to promote the policies; and
WHEREAS, corporations within the energy sector are capitalizing on the false premise of a looming climate apocalypse by introducing carbon capture and sequestration projects into South Dakota and North Dakota, which contemplate the use of eminent domain to acquire land across various states, affecting numerous landowners and communities; and
WHEREAS, the affected landowners and communities have expressed strong opposition to the use of eminent domain, arguing that it unjustly benefits a private entity at the expense of the affected landowners' property rights and local autonomy, demonstrating that there is a need for greater transparency, community involvement, and rigorous environmental and safety assessments in the planning and implementation of large-scale infrastructure projects; and
WHEREAS, there are substantial unanswered questions about the environmental benefits, associated risks, and long-term viability of carbon capture and sequestration projects; and
WHEREAS, the use of federal tax credits, including any tax credit available pursuant to 26 U.S.C. § 45Q (January 1, 2025), is a boondoggle wasting federal taxpayer dollars, which only adds to the national spending and debt crisis; and
WHEREAS, President Donald Trump received sixty-one and fifty-three one-hundredths percent of the vote in this state in the 2016 presidential election; and
WHEREAS, President Donald Trump received sixty-one and seventy-seven one-hundredths percent of the vote in this state in the 2020 presidential election; and
WHEREAS, President Donald Trump received sixty-three and forty-three one-hundredths percent of the vote in this state in the 2024 presidential election;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the House of Representatives of the One Hundredth Legislature of the State of South Dakota, the Senate concurring therein, that the South Dakota Legislature condemns the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines and calls for an immediate halt to any use of eminent domain for carbon capture and sequestration projects; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the South Dakota Legislature urges relevant governmental bodies to seek alternative solutions that do not infringe upon the property rights of individuals, that respect environmental and safety concerns, and that involve meaningful consultation and consent from affected communities; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the South Dakota Legislature opposes the use of state moneys to educate the public on benefits of carbon capture and sequestration that are contrary to the will and interests of private property owners; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the South Dakota Legislature opposes the fascism of mutually beneficial partnerships between government and private energy corporations created under the pretext of climate change; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the South Dakota Legislature supports legislation that prevents the infringement of individual property rights without just compensation and provides legislative oversight of administrative rules that carry the force and effect of law; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the South Dakota Legislature urges President Donald Trump to resist pressure to exercise federal eminent domain power in states and localities that have voted against the use of eminent domain for carbon capture and sequestration and any other Green New Deal project, even if the project benefits traditional energy companies.
This is resolution is in response to last week’s executive order by President Trump indicating he would be willing to allow the use of eminent domain power to push projects, like the Summit Carbon Solutions CO2 pipeline, under the guise that it is “an energy project”.
According to the Executive Order “Declaring A National Energy Emergency”:
Sec. 2. Emergency Approvals. (a) The heads of executive departments and agencies ("agencies") shall identify and exercise any lawful emergency authorities available to them, as well as all other lawful authorities they may possess, to facilitate the identification, leasing, siting, production, transportation, refining, and generation of domestic energy resources, including, but not limited to, on Federal lands. If an agency assesses that use of either Federal eminent domain authorities or authorities afforded under the Defense Production Act (Public Law 81-774, 50 U.S.C. 4501 et seq.) are necessary to achieve this objective, the agency shall submit recommendations for a course of action to the President, through the Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
This order could allow the Federal Government to over-ride the will of the people in states like South Dakota where the message has been sent clearly that the public does not support eminent domain and over-ruling local governments to promote CO2 pipelines.
If you or someone you know is in South Dakota, tell them to contact their legislators in South Dakota to support HCR 4006.
Hopefully, Vivek had an impact on President Trump, too: