Branstad urges Iowans to support carbon pipeline proposed to run through 30 counties

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Part 1: Branstad urges Iowans to support carbon pipeline proposed to run through 30 counties

Some Iowans in nearly a third of the state’s counties are getting a letter signed by former Gov. Terry Branstad asking them to support a new pipeline that would run underneath their property. Branstad is working in support of Ames-based Summit Carbon Solutions.

The project would benefit Iowa’s renewable fuels industry. One of the things that it would do is take the carbon dioxide produced at ethanol plants. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that scientists say absorbs and gives off heat. Increases in greenhouse gasses increase Earth’s average temperatures which can cause, among other harms, extreme weather swings, according to researchers.

The proposed 700-mile carbon dioxide pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions (WHO 13)

Summit Carbon Solutions wants to remove some of the carbon dioxide from the ethanol producing process. It will send it through about 700 miles of underground pipeline running through 30 Iowa counties, joining the pipeline that also runs through the Dakotas, Nebraska and Minnesota.

Branstad signed off on the letter to Iowans impacted by the proposed pipeline’s path through their property. The letter warns that as a landowner they may become a target of the Sierra Club, an environmental group opposed to carbon sequestration pipelines. The letter says the Sierra Club could be “making wild claims about the pipeline and encouraging you to oppose it.”

“Please don’t be intimidated,” the letter adds, “They are not your friends and will be long gone after they have destroyed the ethanol industry and the value of your corn-producing land.”

The Sierra Club urges people to oppose the two pipelines that could go through Iowa. The group called this pipeline concept a “false climate solution.” The Sierra Club contends that it’s just a way to extend the life of oil, ethanol and coal industries. It prefers to focus on what it considers true solutions to the climate crisis such as instead investing in solar, wind, battery storage, conversation and efficiency.

Part 2: Branstad explains why Iowa has turned ‘red’

Since Terry Branstad last served as Iowa governor in 2017, the state has voted even more for Republicans in recent elections. Branstad explained what he thinks Democrats did to help turn the state more “red.”

Part 3: Branstad wants Trump to focus on the future, not the past

More than a year after the 2020 presidential election, Donald Trump still pushes false claims about widespread voter fraud that he says cost him the election.

The Branstads have a relationship with Trump. Terry Branstad served as Trump’s U.S. Ambassador to China from 2017 to 2020. Eric Branstad led Trump’s past Iowa campaign and continues to work on Trump’s behalf.

WHO 13 Political Director Dave Price asked Terry Branstad about Trump’s future.