“It definitely started as an eminent domain concern. I thought it was an absolutely unjustifiable use of eminent domain,” US House of Representatives Candidate Ryan Melton (IA-4th District) said.
Melton continued his sharing the genesis of his passion.
“When I first campaigned against these back in early 22, they (GOP) were lockstep in favor of these (carbon pipelines),” Melton said. “It just blew my mind that, I’d argue that landowner rights, personal property rights, those are the most basic American values, and the fact that so many were willing to just throw them out the window for a quick buck, was really alarming to me.”
Melton joined Townsquare Media KLXX SuperTalk 1270AM’s Talk of the Town with Steve Bakken and guest co-host Jason Spiess to discuss why he has become vocal on educating people on Pipelines, Ethanol and Carbon Management.
“Carbon Pipelines are dangerous in many ways,” Melton said. “These pipelines will further entrench our producers in the agricultural status quo of ethanol, while uncertainty in the industry shows we need more flexibility to meet our future energy challenges.”
Spiess asked if he was receiving any payment from any companies or donors to specifically address the carbon pipelines, Melton quickly said, “No”.
“I would encourage anyone to look up my FEC filings, look me up on Open Secrets. Compared to my opponent, Randy Feenstra, the incumbent in Congress, I reject corporate PAC money. He takes hundreds of thousands in corporate PAC money easy,” Melton said. “So, no one’s funding coffers for me to go out and speak out against these pipelines…”
Melton continued his concerns over the heavily subsidized CO2 Pipeline Project scheduled to transport corn carbon (ethanol waste) via 24-inch pipeline across multiple states into a storage reservoir in North Dakota.
Here are some quick quotes of carbon concern.
- “Definitely the public safety element, if you look at the fracture in Mississippi that endangered so many recently.”
- “The fact that in our state, every single one of our 99 counties is dealing with drought at some level. So we’re already dealing with a lot of concerns with water quality and availability.”
- “These pipelines would require hundreds of millions of gallons more of our water.”
- “The other thing, too, is I think it’s a big waste of taxpayer money. You know, the goal of that 45Q federal tax credit program is to move us in the direction of or away from the status quo.”
- “Bruce Rastetter. And I don’t know how big of a name that is up in the Dakotas, but here in Iowa, he’s arguably the most influential mover and shaker when it comes to Iowa politics. He’s donated thousands upon thousands of dollars to my opponent, to our governor. And so really, if you were to talk to an Iowan about these pipelines, and particularly about Summit, Bruce Rastetter is the first name that would come up.”
- “At the county level, so Story County where I live, that’s where Iowa State University is, and another county out west tried to establish setback ordinances for these pipelines. They were taken to court by Summit and Summit won, and now we’re waiting for the federal pipeline, PHMSA”
Talk of the Town host Steve Bakken and guest host Spiess both cited examples in North Dakota of polarizing political organizations and individuals joining together in order to have a complex carbon conversation.
“It’s bringing people together without a question. So down here in Iowa, so on the left, I’d say you have folks like Iowa Food and Water, the Sierra Club, the Bold Alliance that have been galvanizing,” Melton said. “People in a non-partisan way to fight these pipelines.”
Melton continues his thought adding context to the conversation.
“So the Iowa Utilities Board, which is the state entity that decides whether these companies get eminent domain,” Melton said. “They had their first, I guess, hearings a few months back in Fort Dodge, Iowa. And there were landowners from all political affiliations there. And when we get together in a room, I think there’s a common understanding that we agree to civilly disagree, but put aside our political differences for this common cause because we view it as such a big issue.”
It would appear that in some states, the leadership behind the public funding and use of Carbon Pipelines have become a single-issue complexity of voter concern.
Melton was born in Omaha, NE and spent parts of his childhood in both Iowa and Nebraska. After graduating from Omaha Central, he was awarded a full scholarship to Iowa State University. He graduated in 2005 with a BS in History and Political Science.
While at ISU he served as a journalist for the Iowa State Daily and as president of the ISU Mock Trial team, which made it to two national tournaments. In 2008 he graduated from Kansas University with an MA in US History, focusing on post-reconstruction, civil rights, and environmental history.
Melton has worked for Nationwide for the past 15 years. In the last seven years, he has served in a leadership role managing high-performing teams of insurance professionals.
Melton has also written an OP/ED regarding the carbon pipeline issue in Iowa (and other states).
Carbon Pipelines are Dangerous in Many Ways
These pipelines will further entrench our producers in the agricultural status quo of ethanol, while uncertainty in the industry shows we need more flexibility to meet our future energy challenges.
Since announcing my first run for Congress in January 2022, I’ve spoken with many Republicans, Democrats, Libertarians, and independents alike. One of the greatest concerns among them all is the looming threat of carbon capture pipelines that Bruce Rastetter’s Summit and other companies want to lay across our state.
Their concern, and mine, is that these companies are lobbying our state government to use eminent domain to take our land without our consent, then use it to plant these pipelines. They endanger our public health from risk of fracture, exhaust the water in our state when we are already struggling with water availability due to years of drought, and waste taxpayer money on false climate change technology with a long record of failure, while shackling our producers to an uncertain ethanol market amid the electrification of our vehicle fleet.
The 2020 carbon capture pipeline fracture in Satartia, Mississippi, is a stark example of the public health risk of these pipelines. It only took eight minutes between the rupture happening and the block valves being closed, yet the resulting CO2 plume suffocated many residents as the gas — odorless, colorless, and heavier than oxygen — swept through. The neighbors’ 911 calls from that day are harrowing. Responding emergency management personnel were quoted saying that if the wind blew a different direction that day, people would have died. Everyone in Satartia and its surrounding area was evacuated, with dozens hospitalized. That eight- minute leak released 21,873 barrels of liquid CO2.
A carbon capture fracture is a different animal than an oil pipeline leak. The damage it causes to people, livestock, and crops is harder to control and can be deadly. Alarmingly, Summit refuses to release its CO2 plume projection data regarding their proposed pipelines in Iowa.
These pipelines will misuse our natural resources. Summit has submitted water use permits for these projects that ask to extract hundreds of millions of gallons of water in our state while Iowans struggle with water quality and availability amidst persistent drought. Cities are already imposing water use restrictions. We can’t afford the additional strain these pipelines will put on Iowa’s water.
These pipelines will further entrench our producers in the agricultural status quo of ethanol, while uncertainty within the industry shows we need more flexibility to meet our future energy challenges, not less. Our producers deserve statesmen that care more about them than the powerful ag lobbies, statesmen that care about our long term stability.
Randy Feenstra, Iowa’s current 4th District representative, openly advocated for these pipelines in 2021 on social media and in his Dec. 1 essay, “Carbon capture will enhance ethanol industry and support Iowa’s corn growers,” in the Fort Dodge Messenger.
Once I announced my candidacy in January 2022, running against these pipelines and criticizing Feenstra’s support for them, he went silent on the issue and no longer posts about it on social media. His silence is still damning, as he has yet to oppose the pipelines. But considering Bruce Rastetter and Big Oil PACs have donated thousands of dollars to Feenstra, this isn’t surprising.
With public sentiment robustly in opposition to these pipelines, Feenstra now claims they are a state issue as justification for him now not taking a public stance. That didn’t stop him from publicly supporting Rastetter and Summit in 2021, and as federal tax credits are driving the pipeline companies to cross Iowa and our neighboring states, Feenstra cannot credibly claim it’s just a state issue.
I’ve campaigned against these pipelines since the beginning, joining landowners and concerned citizens of all political affiliations at protests and hearings in front of the Iowa Utilities Board, the state entity determining whether these companies will get eminent domain approval for these harmful, wasteful projects.
I have and will always reject corporate PAC money in order to fight for the people of Iowa without fear or hesitation. These eminent-domain driven pipelines are a brazen attempt to take our land, resources, and security so already wealthy corporate elites can make more money while making us shoulder the risk. They may own my opponent, but they don’t own me. We already forced Navigator to cancel their pipeline. Let’s keep going.
Let’s fight the good fight together.
Ryan Melton is running for Congress in Iowa’s 4th District.
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