Letter to the editor: Vote NO on RL 21


If you are reading this and have no idea what Referred Law 21 is, I will give you a quick lesson. It started as Senate Bill 201 which was passed by the legislature to help pave the way for Summit Carbon Solutions to build a carbon dioxide pipeline through South Dakota, after they were denied a permit by the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) . Landowners across the state opposed SB201, but the legislature passed it anyway.

Critics, “Vote NO on RL21,” argue that the bill prioritizes foreign-backed corporate interests over landowners, property rights and local control by using tax dollars to support private corporations.  Supporters, “Vote YES on RL21,” emphasize the economic benefits that carbon capture could bring to the state, the ethanol industry and landowners. Proponents view the law as pro-agriculture framing it through the “Landowner Bill of Rights.” Opponents see it as an erosion of local control and property rights, referring to Senate Bill 201 as a “Landowner Bill of Sale.”

It is clear to me that the purpose of Senate Bill 201, now RL21, was not to help farmers or South Dakota’s economy. Its purpose was to pave the way for Summit Carbon Solutions to build their CO2 pipeline through our communities and across the land of property owners who do not want it. This bill will gut local control and put all the power in the hands of three PUC members. To top it off, the pipeline is extremely dangerous and completely dependent on federal tax credits.

You can put lipstick on a pig, but it is still a pig. You can call a manure spreader a honey wagon, but it is still a manure spreader. You can label a bill the “Landowner Bill of Rights,” but it does not make it so. Senate Bill 201 was forced upon the people of South Dakota for the benefit of Summit Carbon Solutions. It is a Bill of Sale, not a Bill of rights!

A NO vote on RL21 is the best choice to protect our constitutional freedoms and preserve local control.

Written by MeLisa Elijah, of Arlington, S.D.