South Dakota landowners are celebrating today as the state's Utilities Commission (PUC) handed over a major victory over the Net Zero Agenda on Tuesday.
PUC rejected a second attempt with Summit Carbon Solutions and obtained permission for the planned carbon capture pipeline. The committee also rejected a request for an extension of the summit hearing process.
The summit application was “incomplete” and lacked “forms and content” “were ready for the permit process,” Commissioner Christi Feigen said.
“We really don't know the route. We don't know the time frame. We don't know their plans. We don't know the time frame or the cost of their construction,” she pointed out. “The application is not ready to move forward. Summit will need to be reapplied.”
Fiegen was one of two commissioners who voted “no.” Gary Hanson was the other. Part of their reasoning was recently passed state law restricting the use of prominent domains to obtain the necessary land easements.
Commissioner Chris Nelson opposed his colleagues and encouraged the summit to reapply after creating a reduced route. Three members of the committee are generally elected.
This decision was made in 2025 on Earth Day. Michael Boyle of the John Birch Society attended the hearing and filmed it on video (see above). On the same day, JBS unearthed the documentary CO2 pipeline. This conveys the landowner's light-shape regarding the summit route and the agenda for grabs the land behind projects like this pipeline.
Refusals could affect Iowa, which is also on the path of the summit. Hawkeye State Commissioners have been appointed by the governor and approved the application for the summit on the condition that other states involved have similarly done. They are Nebraska, North Dakota and Minnesota.
The South Dakota denial is throwing a wrench at the plans for the summit's 2,100-mile pipeline, “Midwest Carbon Express.” Company officials are planning to improve the application for the short route in South Dakota.
