Tell Iowa Candidates: No Dirty Pipeline Cash In Our Elections!

Iowa has become a battleground of opposition to hazardous carbon pipelines. These pipelines are part of a bogus scheme known as carbon capture and storage (CCS), and in 2021 three corporations proposed nearly 2,000 miles of pipeline within Iowa to transport carbon dioxide from ethanol and fertilizer facilities.

Iowans know CCS is designed to benefit rich executives and entrench the corporate interests driving the climate crisis. Plain and simple, these pipelines are a scam. But despite grassroots opposition, they are being promoted, propped up, and enabled by political leaders in Iowa who are awash in pipeline cash.

This needs to stop. That’s why Food & Water Action is asking Iowa candidates to pledge that they will not accept funds from pipeline interests.

Iowans Have Made Clear: Carbon Pipelines Have No Place Here

Since these pipelines were originally proposed, people across Iowa have been coming together to stand up to Summit, Navigator, and ADM/Wolf. This public outrage undoubtedly played a role in Navigator canceling plans for its carbon pipeline. However, ADM/Wolf’s proposal is still a threat, and Summit recently expanded its proposed pipeline network by 340 miles. 

These pipelines will threaten private property rights through eminent domain and present a dangerously under-regulated public safety concern. They’re also deeply unpopular across the state and party lines. Our 2022 polling found that four out of five Iowans oppose corporations using eminent domain to build the pipelines, and 73% said they’d be less likely to vote for a candidate who supported eminent domain for the lines.

But Iowa’s leading politicians don’t seem to care — probably because they’re indebted to the monied individuals behind these carbon pipeline schemes. People associated with the companies proposing these pipelines have made hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign contributions to leading elected officials in Iowa. 

Many of these donations poured in just before the start of the 2022 state legislative session when legislation was first introduced to prevent corporations from using eminent domain for these pipelines. The legislation died in committee in 2022, 2023 and 2024.

It’s time to force politicians across Iowa to go on the record — do they support their constituents or the carbon pipelines? 

If Candidates Really Serve Iowans, They’ll Say “No” to Dirty Pipeline Dollars

Every elected official in the state has a role to play in protecting Iowans from the threat of carbon pipelines. That’s why we’ve launched the No Pipeline Money Pledge. This pledge gives us an important opportunity to educate candidates running for elected office about the carbon pipelines and get them, on the record, committed to opposing these dangerous proposals while in office. 

Taking the No Pipeline Money Pledge means that a politician’s campaign will adopt a policy to not accept any contributions over $200 from the corporate Political Action Committees (PACs), named executives, or lobbyists of companies proposing carbon pipelines in Iowa.

With members of Food & Water Team Iowa, our volunteer program, we will be working throughout 2024 to talk to candidates about their position on the carbon pipeline proposals — and to ask them to demonstrate their commitment to their constituents by signing the pledge.

We need candidates at all levels of Iowa’s government to oppose carbon pipelines and fight for their constituents and for real climate solutions. Candidates for office at all levels of government in Iowa are welcome to sign the pledge. 

Get Involved! Ask Your Candidates to Take the “No Pipeline Money Pledge”

It’s time to stand together to say enough is enough: we need to expose the cushy profiteers who are playing inside games with our elected officials. Our leaders must remember who they’re accountable to: the people. These wealthy corporate interests can flood them with cash during the campaign season, but we, the people, have the real power. This November we can choose to keep them in office — or vote them out. 

Help us build the list of candidates refusing to be influenced by pipeline money. Sign up to encourage candidates for office in your area to sign the No Pipeline Money Pledge. We’ll send you a packet of materials to help you get started!