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Why Oppose CO2 Pipelines?
With concerns looming large over our ability to reduce climate-changing greenhouse gas emissions from power and industrial plants (e.g.: ethanol and fertilizer), the federal government is making billions of dollars available to private corporations to capture these emissions and pump them underground. This requires transporting high pressure, liquified carbon dioxide many miles from the industrial source to the site of storage. But, there are many reasons why this is not a good idea:

    • CO2 pipelines aren't safe.
    • Eminent domain supersedes landowners rights.
    • Pipeline construction damages topsoil and reduces crop yield.
    • Few regulations exist for CO2 pipelines.
    • They  extend the use of fossil fuel.
    • CO2 pipelines are funded by the taxpayer, but private corporations reap all the benefits and profits.
    • For landowners, it's all risk and no reward.
    • Carbon capture and storage hasn't worked.

Navigator CO2 Ventures Proposal
Navigator CO2 Ventures, is a Texas-based company with experience in the development of oil pipelines. The 1,300-mile-long CO2 pipeline will serve 20 or more ethanol and fertilizer plants, and transport 15 million tons of CO2 annually across South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, and Illinois to a pre-determined location in Christian County, where they say it will be stored underground. During public meetings, Navigator also claimed they could divert some of this CO2for use in enhanced oil recovery, the process of pumping COinto dwindling oil fields to get the last bit of oil out of the ground. That plan would perpetuate the use of fossil fuels and increase emissions.

As planned Navigator's proposed pipeline will pass through 13 Illinois counties, including Hancock, Adams, McDonough, Henry, Knox, Fulton, Schuyler, Brown, Pike, Scott, Morgan, Sangamon, and Christian. It will pass by numerous communities exposing them to unprecedented safety concerns, described below. In addition to safety concerns, impacts to residents could include reduced property values. The pipeline  will require easements across private property. Impacts to farmers will include limits on how their property can be used; reduced crop yields; soil compaction from heavy equipment; and broken drainage tiles associated with construction.

Webinar Highlights the Hazards of CO2 Pipelines
Watch this March 7, 2022 webinar produced by the Coalition to Stop CO2 pipelines that features Jessica Wiskus, Iowa landowner; Paul Blackburn, attorney, Bold Alliance; and John Albers, attorney and former administrative law judge for the Illinois Commerce Commission. They unpack the impacts of CO2 pipelines on  farmland  from pipeline construction; the unprecedented safety hazards associated with CO2 pipelines, which differ from oil and gas; the mad dash to build them with taxpayer dollars; and the approval process for CO2 pipelines in Illinois.

The video concludes with a discussion on how to intervene in the approval process through organizing, and an invitation to join the work of the coalition. Read more about the eight reasons to oppose CO2 pipelines.

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