Well, here’s to hoping materials used to build Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon pipeline are much thicker than its executives’ skin.
Summit sent out at least eight letters in recent weeks warning critics of the pipeline project to retract statements it contends are false and damaging. Otherwise, they will face legal action for compensatory or punitive damages.
This is a very strange strategy, given the timing.
Iowa’s Utilities Commission has granted Summit a permit to build 700 miles of pipeline in Iowa, which would transport carbon from ethanol plants for storage underground in North Dakota. The commission also allowed Summit to use eminent domain authority to grab land for its right of way from reluctant landowners.
Summit is craving billions of dollars in tax credits for carbon sequestration. It hopes to prop up the ethanol industry by making corn gas a more marketable low-carbon fuel. Raising the corn needed to meet demand will continue fouling Iowa waterways.
North Dakota recently approved Summit’s permit and gave permission for carbon storage in the state. Minnesota gave its OK. Nebraska? No problem.
All that’s left is South Dakota, where to company is making a second try for a permit. Iowa’s permit is contingent on a South Dakota permit. All the marbles are at stake.
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And yet, Summit can’t resist smiting a handful critics.
One letter went to Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Conservation Program Associate Jessica Mazour. She was quoted in a news article arguing Summit is “in collusion” with the utilities commission to “take away democracy and people’s rights.”
Mazour has closely followed this saga since the beginning. Her perspective is informed and credible.
So they don’t like collusion? Let’s go with really cozy.
Among the leaders of Summit is General Counsel Jess Vilsack, son of the U.S. Sec. of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. Another former governor, Terry Branstad, is also on board. Summit’s VP of government affairs is Jake Ketzner, who was chief of staff for Gov. Kim Reynolds and as a longtime aide to Branstad.
The guy who spearheaded the whole deal is Bruce Rastetter, an agri-magnate who has given a pile of money to Republicans. Since 2015, Rastetter has donated more than $175,000 to Reynolds in direct and in-kind contributions.
All three Utilities Commission members were appointed by Reynolds.
Another letter, according to The Gazette’s Jared Strong, went to Robert Nazario of the Free Soil Foundation. He’s quoted about the possibility a plume of CO2 from a leak could kill people. But Summit contends no one has ever been killed.
That’s a relief. Here’s a report by NPR on a pipeline break in Satartia, Miss.
“As the carbon dioxide moved through the rural community, more than 200 people evacuated and at least 45 people were hospitalized. Cars stopped working, hobbling emergency response. People lay on the ground, shaking and unable to breathe. First responders didn't know what was going on.
“’It looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse," says Jack Willingham, emergency director for Yazoo County.’”
But, hey, no one died.
Summit has even threatened to sue former U.S. Rep. Steve King.
"These are just simply threats that say, 'Shut up or we'll sue you because we don't like the truth and what it does to damage our business model,'" King said during a recent interview on Eastern Iowa KXEL radio.
King is right. This is using fear to demand silence. Don’t listen to them.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
www.thegazette.com
Summit sent out at least eight letters in recent weeks warning critics of the pipeline project to retract statements it contends are false and damaging. Otherwise, they will face legal action for compensatory or punitive damages.
This is a very strange strategy, given the timing.
Iowa’s Utilities Commission has granted Summit a permit to build 700 miles of pipeline in Iowa, which would transport carbon from ethanol plants for storage underground in North Dakota. The commission also allowed Summit to use eminent domain authority to grab land for its right of way from reluctant landowners.
Summit is craving billions of dollars in tax credits for carbon sequestration. It hopes to prop up the ethanol industry by making corn gas a more marketable low-carbon fuel. Raising the corn needed to meet demand will continue fouling Iowa waterways.
North Dakota recently approved Summit’s permit and gave permission for carbon storage in the state. Minnesota gave its OK. Nebraska? No problem.
All that’s left is South Dakota, where to company is making a second try for a permit. Iowa’s permit is contingent on a South Dakota permit. All the marbles are at stake.
ADVERTISING
And yet, Summit can’t resist smiting a handful critics.
One letter went to Sierra Club Iowa Chapter Conservation Program Associate Jessica Mazour. She was quoted in a news article arguing Summit is “in collusion” with the utilities commission to “take away democracy and people’s rights.”
Mazour has closely followed this saga since the beginning. Her perspective is informed and credible.
So they don’t like collusion? Let’s go with really cozy.
Among the leaders of Summit is General Counsel Jess Vilsack, son of the U.S. Sec. of Agriculture and former Iowa governor Tom Vilsack. Another former governor, Terry Branstad, is also on board. Summit’s VP of government affairs is Jake Ketzner, who was chief of staff for Gov. Kim Reynolds and as a longtime aide to Branstad.
The guy who spearheaded the whole deal is Bruce Rastetter, an agri-magnate who has given a pile of money to Republicans. Since 2015, Rastetter has donated more than $175,000 to Reynolds in direct and in-kind contributions.
All three Utilities Commission members were appointed by Reynolds.
Another letter, according to The Gazette’s Jared Strong, went to Robert Nazario of the Free Soil Foundation. He’s quoted about the possibility a plume of CO2 from a leak could kill people. But Summit contends no one has ever been killed.
That’s a relief. Here’s a report by NPR on a pipeline break in Satartia, Miss.
“As the carbon dioxide moved through the rural community, more than 200 people evacuated and at least 45 people were hospitalized. Cars stopped working, hobbling emergency response. People lay on the ground, shaking and unable to breathe. First responders didn't know what was going on.
“’It looked like you were going through the zombie apocalypse," says Jack Willingham, emergency director for Yazoo County.’”
But, hey, no one died.
Summit has even threatened to sue former U.S. Rep. Steve King.
"These are just simply threats that say, 'Shut up or we'll sue you because we don't like the truth and what it does to damage our business model,'" King said during a recent interview on Eastern Iowa KXEL radio.
King is right. This is using fear to demand silence. Don’t listen to them.
(319) 398-8262; todd.dorman@thegazette.com
Opinion: Summit tries to intimidate its critics
Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank, right, talks to reporters, Friday, Nov. 15, 2024, at the state Capitol in Bismarck, …
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