Breaking News: South Dakota Pulls It Off!
In a shocking and welcome surprise development, the South Dakota State Senate passes HB 1052 to ban eminent domain for CO2 pipeline by a nearly veto-proof vote of 23 Yeas to 12 Nays!
The people of South Dakota did it!
They convinced their legislature - both the House and the Senate to actually stand with them and passed HB 1052!
The bill will now go to the governor’s desk.
The South Dakota Speaker of the House is now urging South Dakotans to contact the Governor’s office and urge him to sign the bill.
Under South Dakota rules, the bill becomes law when the Governor signs it or if he does not veto it within 5 day. He can do nothing, and it is automatically law.
Yesterday, one of the most power and concise testimonies in favor of the bill came from Speaker Jon Hansen himself:
Last year, when I went to South Dakota to help the South Dakota Freedom Caucus with the primary mission of helping South Dakota conservatives fight against the CO2 Pipeline Agenda, I declared South Dakota to be The Alamo on this issue.
What Happens In South Dakota Will Not Stay In South Dakota
South Dakota is in a unique position in defending private property rights in the CO2 pipeline fight.
Iowa's state laws regarding local ordinances likely give their Iowa Utilities Board ultimate control.
In North Dakota, our laws seems to split power between the counties and the Public Service Commission, but there will likely be a court fight over where those splits occur.
Of the three states. South Dakota's existing laws give the most deference to county ordinances - which is one reason our Public Utilities Commission reject both of the CO2 pipeline permits.
Even South Dakota is unsuccessful at enhancing their protections of property owners, they must at the very minimum defend against and defeat SB 201 which would gut the existing laws and put them in a situation like North Dakota.
South Dakota is The Alamo in this fight.
South Dakota legislators must defend their own residents and property owners from this threat.
And they must also realize that the folks in North Dakota and Iowa are both watching what we do - and hoping that the defense of their property rights will translate into helping everyone else in the other two states defend their own property rights.
On behalf of North Dakotans that care about this issue, I would like to thank the grassroots movement in South Dakota. They pulled this off without a budget or a glitzy campaign.
And thank you to South Dakota legislators for listening to your voters, at least on this one!
Good news. CO2 pipelines are not useful, not needed - a waste of money & resources. CO2 is plant food. Instead, let's build pipelines for moving fossil fuels to refineries.
💥 Wonderful news