Under God the people rule

Written for the High Plains Journal.

The nation’s eyes should continue to focus on the state of South Dakota. As a quick reminder, in the 2024 state legislative session they passed, and Governor Noem signed into law SB 201. Normally it would have gone into effect as most do on August 1, 2024 but the citizens of the state who believe and cherish local control put a pause on that. The State of South Dakota, in 1898, was actually the first state to put into their state constitution the path for a referred law.

That means, with enough signatures submitted within 90 days of passage, the law does not go into effect but rather goes on the general election as a ballot initiative and a vote of the people can override the passage of a potential law. South Dakota needed 17,500 verified signatures and they generated 38,000 to show the overwhelming support of the people against this measure.

The deception and the removal of local control for CO2 pipelines is what has generated the massive support to overturn this law. For example, if you go to SD Legislative website, despite the title they have given this bill, it will eliminate local control and give preference to pipeline companies over landowners.

This is how the regulation is titled:

provide new statutory requirements for regulating linear transmission facilities, to allow counties to impose a surcharge on certain pipeline companies, and to establish a landowner bill of rights.

Who on earth considers a law, that eliminates the local landowner’s ability to work in conjunction with county officials to determine such things as setbacks, a win for landowners?

This is a land grab boondoggle like we see occurring all across this country. All the proponents for this land grab can repeat like a robot is that “pipelines are the safest mode of transportation for liquid”. While that may be true for natural gas and petroleum products, when it comes to compressed C02 at the Super Critical state, that is blatant lie.

On Sept 26, 2024 I was very honored to be asked to debate two individuals who support LB 201 and now the Referred Law 21 as it is called on the ballet. I do not support either and neither should the folks of South Dakota or any other state. In my debate format, I went right the danger that comes along with compressed C02. For those that may not be aware, in the Great Plains (including Iowa) they are trying to lay a CO2 pipe 4 foot in the ground to carry CO2 to an underground entombment under Oliver and Mercer Counties in North Dakota. These pipelines are to be 24 inches in diameter and have compressed CO2 that when it ruptures will expand to 500 times the compressed state.

CO2 in the atmosphere at 430 ppm is plant food, without it life ceases to exist. In a turkey, pig or chicken processing plant, CO2 is used at 70,000 ppm (7% of the air) as an asphyxiant and will kill you. On the program in Brookings, I followed retired geologist Tim Kenyon who spent time in oil country and walked through the dangers of CO2 pipelines to life as we know it. I simply followed up with information that I thought the audience needed to dig in further.

For example, did you know that 100 people each year die from a mishap with CO2 containers in bars, restaurants or other venues where compressed CO2 cannisters of beverages are used? In Aug. 2024, CO2Meter.com updated the blueprint for the dangers in compressed CO2. In August of 2023 Cornell University released a study documenting that CO2 is responsible for volcanic activity. Carbon dioxide – not water – triggers explosive volcanoes | Cornell Chronicle.

When you look at the map that the Princeton University released with the proposed CO2 pipelines to be in place by the year 2050, it does not take much of imagination to see where their proposed CO2 chamber is located that will kill people.

Back to South Dakota, we did have a major victory since the Referred Law 21 campaign began and that was that the SD Supreme Court issued a unanimous decision that CO2 pipelines are not for “Public Use” and eminent domain can NOT be used for the purposes of acquired land to lay this pipeline. Today are working to educate SD voters that they must maintain county control of this dangerous pipeline that the globalists of the world want to lay across the heart of the nation. We are counting on the motto of the state to continue to be the driver as “Under God, the people rule.”