Ag Secretary Candidates Split on Carbon Pipelines, Future of Ethanol

by Jared Strong (Iowa Capital Dispatch) The two candidates for Iowa secretary of agriculture split Friday on whether government should require unwilling landowners to allow carbon pipelines to cross their land.

Democrat John Norwood said eminent domain should not be used to build pipelines that transport captured carbon dioxide away from ethanol plants in Iowa because they do not serve a public purpose.

His opponent, incumbent secretary Mike Naig, a Republican, said eminent domain is permissible if the companies that have proposed three such pipelines get “significant voluntary agreements” with landowners for their routes. He declined to specify what counts as “significant.” There is no threshold mandated by state law.

Their comments were part of a Friday discussion on Iowa Press, which invited the two candidates to share their views on pipelines, ethanol, solar and wind power, and the state’s efforts to reduce farm pollution.

Norwood also said some ethanol plants could be retooled to produce biogas as a salve for skyrocketing natural gas prices.

Naig said ethanol for passenger vehicles will continue to be a viable market if the industry can capture its emissions because it is a domestic product that benefits farmers.

Solar panel locations

Asked about whether the state should dictate where solar panels can be placed in Iowa, both candidates said it’s preferable for the panels to be installed on soils that don’t produce high crop yields, but each said the issue should be decided by county supervisors and landowners rather than state lawmakers. A bill proposed during this year’s legislative session would have precluded the installation of solar panels on high-yield land, but it was not adopted. READ MORE