There is extreme and growing opposition to pipeline companies using eminent domain to install subterranean pipelines to transport carbon dioxide. Accordingly there is an initiative to call a special session of the South Dakota legislature to enact a law to protect the rights of farmers. Objections to proposed pipelines include safety, environmental degradation and owners' rights.

Summit Carbon Solutions intends to construct a 2,000-mile network of pipelines at a cost in excess of $5 billion to transport carbon dioxide from mid-west ethanol plants to underground storage in North Dakota.  The project would involve installation of pipelines in Iowa, Minnesota, Nebraska and the Dakotas.

It is ironic that farmers are objecting to pipelines that offer a practical solution to disposal of carbon dioxide, the unspoken downside of claimed  “clean ethanol.” Without the industry supported by mandates that absorbs just over thirty percent of the corn crop, prices obtained by farmers would be considerably lower and in many seasons below cost of production.