Many landowners in Nebraska are just now finally able to celebrate — after over 10 years of fighting — the complete return of their land sought via eminent domain by TransCanada for the cancelled Keystone XL pipeline. But another threat is now bearing down on these same battle-weary farmers’ and ranchers’ land and livelihoods, and in fact their very lives — from risky carbon pipeline project proposals.

These potentially explosive and deadly pipelines are also seeking to use eminent domain and take landowners’ property, this time for a massive network of new pipelines that are part of a scheme to use taxpayer money to clean up Big Oil’s decades of pollution.

MORE INFORMATION: Carbon Capture & Storage + CO2 Pipelines: Not a Climate Solution

Impacted landowners on the proposed Summit or Navigator “carbon / CO2” pipeline routes and their neighbors in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas, and Illinois participated in an online forum on Nov. 18 to learn how they can protect their property rights, and stop these risky carbon pipelines threatening the Midwest.

Attendees heard from attorney Brian Jorde of Domina Law Group, which successfully represented a co-op of Keystone XL landowners against eminent domain in court, and landowner groups in Nebraska, Iowa, and other states impacted by proposed carbon pipeline projects from Summit Carbon Solutions and Navigator CO2 Ventures, among others.

Carroll Muffett of the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) also presented an overview of the risks of carbon pipelines, and how Big Oil and Gas are marketing this scheme as a false solution to our climate crisis that makes taxpayers pay to clean up these billion-dollar corporations’ generations of pollution in our communities.

Several impacted landowners who have already been contacted by Summit or Navigator shared their experiences and concerns, and local groups organizing landowners opposed to the pipeline in Nebraska and Iowa right now discussed opportunities for joining forces to fight eminent domain.

(Are you an impacted landowner on the Summit or Navigator proposed pipeline route? Please fill out this form to receive updates and learn more about your legal rights as a landowner, and why you should not sign a voluntary easement.)

SPEAKERS:

• Jane Kleeb, founder of Bold Nebraska, Bold Alliance & Pipeline Fighters Hub
• Brian Jorde, attorney, Domina Law Group, who represented Keystone XL landowners successfully vs. eminent domain
• Jessica Mazour, Conservation Program Coordinator with Sierra Club Iowa, organizing landowners in Iowa who are opposed to Summit & Navigator pipelines.
• Carroll Muffett, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
• Several affected landowners on the proposed carbon pipeline routes

Moderator:

• Mark Hefflinger, Bold Alliance & Pipeline Fighters Hub

View the Pipeline Fighters Hub Briefing from Aug. 25, “Carbon Capture & CO2 Pipelines”:

Navigator CO2 Ventures “Heartland Greenway”

Tallgrass Energy “Trailblazer” (Gas-to-CO2)