FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 28, 2026
Landowners Testify in Support of LB 916 to Ban Eminent Domain for Carbon Pipelines in Nebraska
Lincoln – Nebraskans opposed to the abuse of eminent domain to seize private property for risky carbon pipelines submitted public comments and will testify in person on Wednesday in support of Sen. Gene Meyer’s LB 916, a bill that would ban the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines and sequestration in Nebraska.
Sen. Meyer’s statement of intent for LB 916 says the bill “protects Nebraska landowners against the use of eminent domain for the construction of CO2 pipelines. The bill gives authority to the Nebraska Oil and Gas Commission for approving applications for the construction of CO2 pipelines and prohibits the use of eminent domain for the purposes of acquiring right-of-way, constructing CO2 pipelines, and operating CO2 pipelines. The bill also requires CO2 storage operators to obtain the consent of all persons who own reservoir estates within the storage reservoir.”
Bold Nebraska director Shelli Meyer will also deliver public testimony in support of LB 916 at today’s hearing, scheduled for 1:30 p.m. in Room 1023 at the Nebraska State Capitol.
In her testimony, Meyer will relay that her elderly parents first received notice just days before Christmas 2021 that their family’s Century Farm in Dixon County was threatened by a proposed carbon dioxide pipeline. Meyer will speak about her family’s concerns about the industry’s ability to safely transport and sequester CO2, in light of the 2020 carbon pipeline rupture in Satartia, MS that sent dozens to the hospital, with some victims still experiencing negative health impacts to this day. She will also address concerns her family’s farm has with pipeline construction including loss of topsoil, years of reduced crop yields, and major insurance uncertainties.
(Note: Bold produced a documentary film about the Satartia disaster, “Under Pressure: A Carbon Capture Land Grab Threatens Rural America”)
“Family farms are businesses. They have paid taxes for generations and are the backbone of our state’s agricultural economy. I do not support the destruction of existing Nebraska businesses to prop up privately owned, out-of-state, multi-billion-dollar corporations. Some landowners may choose to participate in these projects. That is their right. But my parents — and many others — should also have the right to say, “No. No thank you.” And be left alone,” said Shelli Meyer, Nebraska Director at Bold.
“LB 916 is a fair and common sense approach to protecting property rights. Landowners deserve to have a level playing field when negotiating easements — an impossibility so long as multi-billion dollar corporations have the threat of eminent domain on their side,” said Emma Schmit, Bold Alliance’s Pipeline Fighters Director.
Testimony on LB 916 submitted by Bold Founder Jane Kleeb:
“When someone finally owns land, they should decide how it is used — not the government and not a corporation. No family works for generations so that their property can be taken for a private project like a pipeline. Land is everything. It is a family’s connection to the past, their ability to build wealth and pass it down, and their freedom to grow a business and raise a family with real roots in our state. Eminent domain was never meant to serve private profit. Nearly 80% of Nebraskans — across parties and regions of our state–agree eminent domain should not be used for private gain. We need our leaders to listen to the people and stand up for property rights. Stand up for freedom. Stand up for the land.”
About Bold’s Easement Action Teams:
The Easement Action Teams are a project of the Bold Education Fund. The EATs work with local communities to provide immediate legal representation to landowners facing pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure. Our first priority is to protect landowners’ property rights and water. We believe landowners should have the ultimate right of what does and does not happen on their land. We stand against the use of eminent domain for private gain. (https://easementteams.org)
About Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub:
The Bold Pipeline Fighters Hub, a project of the Bold Education Fund, provides technical, legal, story telling and organizing assistance to any community fighting pipelines and other fossil fuel infrastructure, with the goal of protecting the land and water. (https://pipelinefighters.org)
About Bold:
The Bold Alliance and Bold Education Fund are coordinating state-based groups with our Pipeline Fighters Hub and landowner legal groups called the Easement Action Teams to stop carbon pipelines from using eminent domain for private gain. We believe that carbon capture and storage (CCS) is unproven and overly expensive and wastefully incentivized approach to climate change, and that the carbon pipelines needed for CCS are poorly planned, under-regulated, and risky infrastructure. These huge and complex projects should not move forward until counties, states and the federal government prove first that they are a better climate solution than renewable energy, and second that safety, planning, and routing standards are in place to avoid inefficient chaotic development driven by wasteful federal spending. (https://boldalliance.org)
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