Iowa CCI and Bakken Coalition deliver 2,600 Bakken Pipeline objections to IUB

 Nearly 50 Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement members, alongside representatives of the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition, and Iowa farmland owners gathered at the Iowa Utilities Board office in Des Moines to call on Governor Branstad and the Iowa Utilities Board to side with Iowans and block the construction of the proposed Bakken Pipeline.

We delivered 2,600 objection to the Bakken Pipeline to the Iowa Utilities Board, vastly outnumbering the 500 letters of support that have been submitted to date, while bringing the total number of objections to well over 3,600 objections. 

Folks at the rally cited Governor Branstad’s recent remarks about Big Oil as a point of hypocrisy in the Governor’s stance on renewable energy. At a hearing about the Renewable Fuel Standard, Branstad was recently quoted as saying, “The EPA has a choice: protect the deep pockets of Big Oil and their monopolistic practices or nurture consumer choice, renewable energy growth, and a healthy rural economy.” 

In response to these words, Dick Lamb, Iowa CCI member who owns land in the pipeline’s path in Boone County said, “If Governor Branstad is truly concerned about renewable energy growth, why doesn’t he speak up against the proposed Bakken Pipeline through Iowa?” asked Dick Lamb, CCI member who owns land in the pipeline’s path in Boone County. “Not only would our state endorse Big Oil by allowing this pipeline, Iowa landowners would actually be forced to subsidize it through eminent domain seizure of their land.” 

The event drew a diverse crowd from the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition, including representatives of the Physicians for Social Responsibility. “While Physicians for Social Responsibility is a national organization focusing on global issues, we have to engage in local issues,” said Kit Gaulden or Physicians for Social Responsibility. “Stopping the Bakken Pipeline is where that engagement starts.”

In this way, environmentalists aren’t the only ones fighting against the Bakken Pipeline. Folks from Iowa CCI also noted the importance of having the voices of everyday Iowans heard on this proposal.

Jade Suganuma, a Climate Justice Intern with Iowa CCI noted that the event was, “very powerful and important in raising the voices of concerned community members and landowners, while emphasizing why Iowans are opposed to this pipeline”

Iowa CCI and their partners will continue to plan similar events across the state in coming months. Yet the event wasn’t just about stopping the Bakken Pipeline. Folks from Iowa CCI and the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition also provided context for the type of energy infrastructure that Iowa needs.

“We’ve already seen a glimpse of the future in wind and solar projects across the state.” said Ross Grooters, Iowa CCI member of Pleasant Hill. “Rather than continuing our harmful oil addiction we need to expand community based renewable energy sources.” 

Check out the coverage of the event from the Des Moines Register, as well as an OpEd from Dan Gannon, a Mingo landowner who spoke at the event! 

Iowa CCI is part of a growing number of organizations, landowners, and everyday citizens across the state committed to stopping the proposed Bakken Pipeline alongside the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition. Iowa CCI is currently planning community meetings across the state in the counties impacted by the proposed Bakken Pipeline. 

Iowa CCI is a statewide, grassroots people’s action group that uses community organizing to win public policy that puts communities before corporations and people before profits, politics, and polluters. CCI has been fighting to put people first for 40 years. Join us at our 40th Birthday Bash on October 2nd and 3rd to hear from great speakers and enjoy food, fun, and camaraderie. For more information, visit www.iowacci.org.

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