The Iowa House of Representatives introduced and began discussing a bill on eminent domain and carbon dioxide pipelines.

District 23 Representative Ray Sorensen says that the bill started out a bit differently than it currently is stated, but has been reviewed a bit by legislators. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio more on the piece.

“The bill prohibits private carbon dioxide, or CO2 pipeline companies, from using eminent domain to cross private land without landowner consent. Quick little definition, eminent domain is the government’s power to take private property for public use with compensation and carbon capture or CO2 pipelines are infrastructure designed to transport captured carbon dioxide, typically from ethanol plants to underground storage.”

Sorensen mentions that the main debate on this is whether the pipelines are meant for public service, or as a means of gain for private companies. He adds that in his opinion, private property rights are majorly important, and that eminent domain should only be used sparingly when needed.