Welcome to the latest cesspool of crony capitalism. The stench wafting out of Iowa is thicker than a Bakken oil slick, thanks to Governor Kim Reynolds’ recent veto of House File 639.
This legislative effort aimed to slap handcuffs on the egregious use of eminent domain for Summit Carbon Solutions’ $9 billion CO2 pipeline—a project reeking of Big Oil influence and backroom deals. Let’s dive into the muck.
The Setup:
Summit Carbon Solutions, the brainchild of agribusiness mogul Bruce Rastetter, got the green light from the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) on June 25, 2024, to ram a 688-mile hazardous carbon capture pipeline through 29 counties.
The pitch? Capture 18 million tons of CO2 annually from 57 ethanol plants and stash it underground in North Dakota’s Stark County, just 5-15 miles from Bakken oil leases.
Cue the 45Q tax credits and a fat USDA loan guarantee—$600 million of your tax dollars, dear reader. But here’s the kicker: under the feel-good pretext of “saving the planet,” Big Oil is now getting the very thing it needs to extract more oil, and you’re paying for it thanks to Biden.
The proximity of Summit’s approved underground CO2 storage, about 5-15 miles from North Dakota’s oil fields, screams Enhanced Oil Recovery (EOR). Big Oil, like Hess or ExxonMobil, will get a taxpayer funded pipeline – plowing through homes, schools, farms and America’s Heartland – carrying CO2 directly into dried oil wells, squeezing out more black gold. Convenient, right?
The Veto That Stinks
There is no “both sides”.
This pipeline is dark money nonsense being thrust upon Iowans.A veto is a loss for private property rights and a win for Rob Sand.
Do what’s right @KimReynoldsIA https://t.co/I0N1Ci2f5R
— Rep. Dieken (@IARepD5) May 24, 2025
HF 639 was the landowners’ last stand. It would’ve restricted eminent domain to “common carriers” with proven public use, demanded insurance for pipeline eruptions, and capped pipeline lifespans at 25 years. A solid shield against corporate land grabs. But Reynolds, with her $175,000 war chest from Summit, axed it. Her excuse? The bill “threatens Iowa’s economy.”
Translation: it threatens Summit’s bottom line—and, by extension, Big Oil’s EOR dreams. The veto sparked a revolt from Republican senators who backed the bill—siding with 78% of Iowans, according to a Des Moines Register poll.
Yet, the fix was in.
Rastetter, a self-made ethanol kingpin, has deep ties to the oil game. His ethanol plants have fed blendstock to Phillips 66 and Valero for decades, raking in $50-100 million annually. Now, with Summit, he’s positioned to supply CO2 for EOR, aligning with oil majors’ carbon capture playbooks. A 2022 Reuters probe flagged him as the top donor to Gov. Reynolds, with emails showing private meetings between the two.
The Constitutional Sham
Iowa’s Constitution (Article I, Section 18) states that eminent domain can only be used for a “public use” project. In 2019, the Iowa Supreme Court rejected a broader “economic development” rationale from the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London (2005) ruling. In that case, involving the Dakota Access pipeline, the court emphasized that “trickle-down benefits of economic development are not enough to constitute a public use” under the Iowa Constitution. Yet, the Iowa Utilities Board approved Summit’s pipeline application based upon this same flimsy logic.
While HF 639 would have helped to bridge the divide between constitutional law and regulatory ambiguities, ultimately protecting private property rights, the veto provides a timely win for Summit and Rastetter. Last year, North Dakota’s Governor Doug Bergum – now Trump’s Secretary of Interior – approved Summit’s storage site, eyeing EOR profits.
Now with approvals on both sides of South Dakota – which banned eminent domain for CO2 pipelines in 2024 – Summit is placing immense financial and political pressure on South Dakota’s most conservative lawmakers ahead of the 2026 primaries.
But make no mistake, Big Oil’s fingerprints are all over this. Between API’s carbon capture push, BlackRock’s deep pockets, and the EPA’s mandatory ethanol blends, this scheme is the epitome of corporate capture and the uniparty cronyism that MAGA voted to end.
It’s a rigged game: taxpayers fund the infrastructure, corporations reap the rewards, and farmers get the shaft.
Landowners cry foul, and lawsuits loom, but the fix is already in the ground—literally, with pipeline construction creeping forward.
Carbon capture is a Green Trojan horse for Big Oil, and America’s heartland is now the battlefield. While legal challenges and public outrage might yet derail this corporate heist, don’t hold your breath. This swamp runs deep.
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