Landowner group launches campaign to end eminent domain for CO2 pipelines at August 26-28 Decatur Farm Progress Show

Citizens Against Heartland Greenwashing Projects (CAHGP), an Illinois grassroots landowner group and a member of the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines, used this year’s Farm Progress Show to kick off their legislative campaign to ban the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines in Illinois. The Farm Progress Show is America’s largest outdoor agriculture show with more than 600 exhibitors and over 100,000 visitors. 

The 2024 SAFE CCS Act, which was signed by Governor Pritzker in July 2024, mandates important emergency and communication requirements for CO2 pipelines. But the act does not include limits on eminent domain, exposing non-consenting landowners to unwanted risk and harm. Twelve carbon capture and sequestration projects currently are proposed in Illinois. Most will require CO2 pipelines, some of which could be interstate.
Three would be banned by signed legislation that projects Illinois' sole source aquifer, but they are still being moved forward  by the U.S. EPA. 

Landowners, clad in bright yellow t-shirts that read “NO EMINENT DOMAIN FOR CO2 PIPELINES,” talked with farmers and other attendees about the impacts CO2 pipelines can have on their farm, health, and safety. Overhead, a small plane flying a banner that reads “NO CO2 EMINENT DOMAIN” called attention to the issue and directed people to their booth.

Construction of pipelines damages soil and drainage tiles, reduces crop yield, and places restrictions on the use of private property. Because they transport CO2, which is a toxic asphyxiant, they are extremely dangerous. A leak or rupture can harm - or even kill - humans and animals, depending on the concentration and length of exposure. 

"In December 2021, Navigator mailed me a packet stating they were going to ask us for an easement through our backyard in a housing subdivision and file to condemn our land and take it through eminent domain if we refused," said Kathleen Campbell, President, Citizens Against Heartland Greenway Pipeline. "As a retired PhD medical school professor I have reviewed all three CO2 pipeline applications and served as a fact witness at the ICC. Not one of these pipelines could provide any EMS plan that could evacuate residents before residents were hit with life threatening CO2 levels in the event of a rupture. No one should be forced to accept that risk. Eminent domain for this level of danger is unacceptable.”

In Illinois, 82% of registered voters oppose the use of eminent domain by private companies, according to a recent survey commissioned by BOLD Alliance and conducted by Embold Research. South Dakota just passed a ban preventing the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines. Iowa's House and Senate passed similar legislation that was later vetoed by Governor Reynolds. Minnesota does not allow private companies to use eminent domain for CO2 pipelines.

"In just three days, over 700 people attending the Farm Progress Show signed postcards to legislators to protest Illinois' unfair and unsafe law," said Steve Hess, 5th generation farmer in McDonough County.  "They spoke loud and clear. This is the year to follow the lead of other states. It's time for Illinois to stop giving private companies the right to use eminent domain to install dangerous CO2 pipelines on private property for corporate profit. It's time to say no by not allowing eminent domain for CO2 pipelines."

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Citizens Against Heartland Greenwashing Projects CAHGP) 
Citizens Against Heartland Greenwashing Projects is a grassroots landowners group originally  formed to protect themselves from the Navigator Heartland Greenway Pipeline. After that project was canceled, following  massive public opposition, CAHGP has now expanded to help other landowners across the state.  We oppose the proliferation of these dangerous CO2 pipelines and sequestration projects that threaten our land, our safety, and our property rights only for the benefit of private companies wishing to capture billions of taxpayer dollars through tax credits at our expense. 

Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines
The Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines is a growing coalition of Illinois environmental groups, landowners, and residents concerned about the environmental, economic, and the unprecedented safety hazards associated with building carbon capture and sequestration projects across the state. The Coalition believes the mad rush to build these projects is dangerous, wasteful of taxpayer dollars, and will keep Illinois reliant on fossil fuels.

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