Letter to the Editor: Is SD still the land of the free and for whom?
What you are about to read may shock you and it sure as heck should stir up about as much outrage, blind-sidedness, and deception that a South Dakota-born and raised landowner can take! First, those outrageous, false TV ads about protecting landowner rights have purposefully aired as total misinformation to intentionally sway folks to believe that South Dakota landowner rights are being held in the state governments’, Summit Carbon’s and its supporter’s best interests. Second, our state government majority leaders, backed by Governor Noem, have outright betrayed us all by touting and reinforcing these same untruths everywhere in the media and in the legislature.
On March 6, 2024, the “Summit Carbon Bill of Rights” legislation in the form of HB 1185, HB 1186 and SB 201 coalesced exactly as Summit and supporters wanted. Through the tireless work of Summit’s allies and lobbyists, Rep. Will Mortenson and Sen. Casey Crabtree, South Dakota landowners and counties are now some of the worst protected in the country when it comes to eminent domain and having any chance against huge private pipeline corporations hungry to force their will upon landowners and counties.
None of this legislation protects landowners from the abuses of Summit. Eminent domain and invasive destructive land surveys against property owners will were both ignored. Each of the so-called landowner rights describes what landowners can already obtain, Summit has already agreed to do, or the law already allows. The bills are 100 percent pro-pipeline as they effectively kill local control, destroy the discretion of the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) and handcuff them from doing their job as they have since 1975.
In 2023, South Dakota landowners and counties pulled off two historic fair and square PUC victories against hazardous Co2 pipelines. After that, corporate lobbyists and legislators rallied and decidedly changed the rules in the middle of the game. Losing on merit and under laws since statehood, they “gamed” the system and laws in their favor, creating the above-mentioned bills. We now have less landowner protections than Iowa or Minnesota. Governor Noem, is South Dakota still the land of the free? Or free, meaning just for big corporations she’s backing under “South Dakota We’re Open for Business” all at the expense of South Dakota landowner rights?
How could this happen in South Dakota? Landowners’ voices were simply shut out – when they made suggestions and offered solutions, they were ignored. Every committee hearing was just a formality with the outcome predetermined, leaving landowners frustrated, receiving nothing they asked for. The real “work” occurred in secret meetings orchestrated by Summit’s lobbyists and hand-picked friendly legislators. For more eye-opening truths and the rest of the story, Google this powerful YouTube video, “Fighting the Eminent Domain Takeover of Farms and Ranches” with South Dakota’s Amanda Radke. (Can link video to: Fighting the Eminent Domain Takeover of Farms and Ranches with Amanda Radke Ep. 5
RJ and Lisa Wright
South Dakota Landowners
