To the editor:

I can’t imagine any farmer hoping that a pipeline will get installed across their farm. That said, I think we need the carbon pipeline anyway.

I was encouraged to hear that there is a proposal in the Iowa legislature to widen the pipeline route in an effort to work with landowners willing to sell. That’s a great step, in my opinion, but the simple truth is that a pipeline of this magnitude simply cannot be built without at least some use of eminent domain. Some would say that it is wrong to use eminent domain for the construction of a private project, but I argue that this pipeline would bring benefits to our communities at large. When the Poet ethanol plant was built near me by Emmetsburg, it did not just reward its owners and investors. It brought jobs, children into our schools and customers into our local businesses. Our grocery stores and gas stations are also private businesses, but few would argue, especially in small towns where they’ve been lost, that they don’t have a public benefit.

That said, farmers and landowners MUST be fairly compensated for the use of their land, and our state needs a vigorous regulatory program in place to insure the safety of area residents. We CANNOT allow this to be built and then simply ignore it. Pipelines are by far the safest way to transport almost anything in bulk, and they are already transporting far more dangerous products than carbon underneath our soils, such as anhydrous ammonia and natural gas. Because of the sheer volume of product that would be moved through this pipeline, however, safety protocols are vital. Criticism of this project has included that it’s funded by “big money and big business.”

I would counter that that does not make it inherently bad, just that we need to go in with eyes wide open. Some of the big money being spent against its construction is using landowner rights as a flashpoint to ignite opposition, when their real aim is to discourage anything that supports liquid fueled vehicles, in the hope we are forced to move more rapidly to electric vehicles.

Crop prices are in the tank, demand is iffy, and productivity keeps rising. We can ask for an acreage set aside program, beg for money from our fellow taxpayers, or we can be proactive and work to increase demand for our corn. Our local ethanol plants have been a major boon to our rural economy, but they’re not keeping up with the increasing corn supply. New plant construction or expansion is only occurring in areas where carbon capture is possible, such as in Nebraska, where they were able to re-purpose an existing pipeline, or areas of the eastern Corn Belt where the local geology lends itself to carbon capture. We need more demand for corn here!

To see more on the pipeline and carbon capture, go to:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IkHtrQipyD8.

Fred Wirtz

West Bend