Bill Text: IA SCR6 | 2023-2024 | 90th General Assembly | Introduced


Bill Title: A concurrent resolution urging the Iowa Utilities Board to deny the use of eminent domain in relation to carbon capture pipeline projects.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 9-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-03 - Introduced, referred to Rules and Administration. S.J. 1062. [SCR6 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2023-SCR6-Introduced.html
Senate Concurrent Resolution 6 - Introduced SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 6 BY ALONS , GUTH , SALMON , WESTRICH , GREEN , EVANS , LOFGREN , J. TAYLOR , and ROWLEY A Concurrent Resolution urging the Iowa Utilities Board 1 to deny the use of eminent domain in relation to 2 carbon capture pipeline projects. 3 WHEREAS, the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of 4 the United States declares that private property shall 5 not be taken for public use without just compensation, 6 and the Constitution of the State of Iowa, Article 1, 7 section 18, states “Private property shall not be taken 8 for public use without just compensation first being 9 made”; and 10 WHEREAS, the use of eminent domain is 11 constitutionally limited to public use, constrained to 12 public convenience and necessity; and 13 WHEREAS, pipelines transporting captured carbon 14 dioxide do not meet this constitutional standard as 15 a transport system for an industrial product used by 16 private, for-profit companies, and will exclusively 17 benefit private companies, not the general public; and 18 WHEREAS, the installation of carbon capture 19 pipelines will compromise the productivity of valuable 20 agricultural land, disrupt and damage carefully 21 installed patterned drainage tile systems, and threaten 22 the proper soil conditions necessary for optimal crop 23 growth; and 24 WHEREAS, Iowa Code section 479B.9 restricts 25 hazardous pipeline project permitting by the Iowa 26 Utilities Board, stating: “A permit shall not 27 -1- LSB 2568XS (3) 90 es/rn 1/ 3
S.C.R. 6 be granted to a pipeline company unless the board 28 determines that the proposed services will promote the 1 public convenience and necessity”; and 2 WHEREAS, to contend that a carbon capture pipeline 3 project promotes public convenience and necessity 4 because it is needed to fight climate change is 5 speculative, as man-made climate change is highly 6 debatable and not clearly settled science, and public 7 policy should only be adopted based upon fully known 8 and established science; and 9 WHEREAS, the federal and state constitutions were 10 written specifically to keep economic power from 11 being a factor in deciding whether to use the power of 12 eminent domain; and 13 WHEREAS, the dissenting justices in the United 14 States Supreme Court decision Kelo vs. City of New 15 London warned, “The beneficiaries [of this decision] 16 are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate 17 influence and power in the political process, including 18 large corporations and development firms. As for the 19 victims, the government now has license to transfer 20 property from those with fewer resources to those with 21 more”; and 22 WHEREAS, Founding Father John Adams warned, 23 “Property must be secured or liberty cannot exist”, 24 and “The moment the idea is admitted into society, 25 that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and 26 that there is not a force of law and public justice 27 to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence”; NOW 28 THEREFORE, 29 -2- LSB 2568XS (3) 90 es/rn 2/ 3
S.C.R. 6 BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE, THE HOUSE OF 30 REPRESENTATIVES CONCURRING, That the General Assembly 1 urges the Iowa Utilities Board to uphold and protect 2 the private property rights of landowners and farmers 3 pursuant to the Constitution of the United States, the 4 Constitution of the State of Iowa, and the laws of 5 this state, and deny the use of the power of eminent 6 domain to private companies constructing carbon capture 7 pipelines. 8 -3- LSB 2568XS (3) 90 es/rn 3/ 3
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