Losing the Carbon Pipeline
Will Damage Our Ag Economy
Will Cost Our State Billions
Will Hurt Every South Dakotan
Let’s Not Make a Huge Mistake
Over the past year, South Dakota’s carbon pipeline projects have been met with opposition from a small minority of landowners, county commissioners, the Public Utilities Commission and social media. This opposition has put these projects - and others - in jeopardy of shutting down or being relocated out of state.
Unfortunately, those opposing the pipelines are ignoring the fact that killing this project will cost our state billions of dollars in ag production, plant and pipeline construction, low carbon ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel production, along with thousands of jobs and the opportunity to position ourselves at the leading edge of biofuel and energy production. Half of our state’s corn crop, grown for ethanol production, will lose its markets for sale. This loss will devastate our ag economy, our rural communities and South Dakota’s future economic development.
Protect South Dakota’s Ag Future
That’s why Protect South Dakota’s Ag Future was formed. We are a solution-based organization, working to ensure that South Dakota pipelines are built the South Dakota way. We believe in fair compensation, strongly support value added agriculture and future economic development. We understand what’s at stake if these CO2 pipeline projects are killed – game-changing opportunities our state will miss out on if we don’t act with urgency. We believe this is not a black-and-white issue, but one that demands education and compromise so that workable solutions can be developed. South Dakotans need to come together to construct a win-win pipeline scenario and avoid suffering an unthinkable economic loss.
Please know that Summit Carbon Solutions is not providing funding for this effort and has no representation in our coalition. Protect South Dakota’s Ag Future is a completely independent coalition working to keep our state from killing the pipelines and making a terrible mistake. We believe low carbon ethanol and sustainable aviation fuel will revolutionize South Dakota’s ag economy. These game changers cannot be achieved without the construction of CO2 pipelines.
The Situation
Agriculture is the backbone of our state’s economy. South Dakota farmers produce nearly 800 million bushels of corn annually, contributing $4.3 billion to our state’s economy. Over 60% of the corn grown in our state is used in the production of ethanol.
A global movement towards reducing carbon emissions presents opportunities and challenges to our ethanol industry. Ethanol-based sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is used by airlines in their effort to become more carbon neutral. With limited alternatives to power today’s modern aircraft, SAF is expected to make up the majority of emissions reductions for the aviation industry. Gevo’s Net-Zero project being developed near Lake Preston, South Dakota is expected to be a major source for SAF upon completion.
At the same time, more markets are passing laws requiring low carbon scores for fuels purchased there. Which means our state’s ethanol producers cannot sell to the largest markets in the US without carbon capture. This makes carbon sequestration projects – which remove carbon from the ethanol production process and use pipelines to move it out of state where it is stored deep underground - vital to the future of our ethanol industry. Carbon sequestration is also a key component of Gevo’s planned $1 billion investment in the Lake Preston plant.
What You Need To Know
Carbon is Safe and Non-Explosive
Moving Forward
It’s clear there have been some missteps with the CO2 pipeline project to this point. Summit Carbon Solutions, the company behind the project, has significantly changed their plans as a result of the opposition to the pipeline. They’ve also changed their approach in dealing with landowners.
It’s our hope that these changes will help our state to find a solution that allows us to move forward with the carbon pipeline and all the opportunities it makes possible. These projects are essential to the future of South Dakota and represent a clear choice for the people of our state – either find a way for our state to finish the pipeline project and move into the future, or refuse to budge and cling to the past, ignoring a marketplace that is already changing and will leave us behind if we don’t act with urgency. The choice is ours.
What You Can Do
Please contact your local representatives and tell them that the future of agriculture in our state depends on carbon capture, the pipeline and all the opportunities it makes possible. Let them know that you support the pipeline, but you want it built right – the South Dakota way. Make your voice heard – let’s not reject this once-in-a-generation opportunity. South Dakota can’t afford to kill the carbon pipeline. We need a win-win solution now.
