37 Republicans who serve in the state legislature are filing lawsuits in state and federal courts that challenge the Iowa Utilities Commission’s decision to grant Summit Carbon Solutions a permit for its proposed pipeline.
State Republican Senator Dennis Guth of Klemme is one of those 37. He tells RadioOnTheGo News why he supports the effort in court.
“We don’t believe that eminent domain should be used for a project that does not benefit the Iowa people. Our constitution says that eminent domain should only be used for the convenience and public benefit of the people of Iowa, and we don’t see that happening with these carbon pipelines. They’re disrupting a lot of soil, messing up farmland, taking and wasting taxpayer money to accomplish something that will never make a perceptible difference in our climate anyway.”
Supporters say the pipeline will help the ethanol industry, but Guth, who also farms, disagrees.
“In the long term, people are going to figure out that the whole thing is based on a scam and it’ll collapse, so I would rather not build my house of cards on something that fragile.”
Summit officials remain confident that their pipeline will be constructed.
