Little guys' coalition successfully halts CO2 pipeline builds in Central Illinois

Page 2 of Navigator's letter explains eminent domain.
(Photo by Kathleen Campbell via the Yonder)

Successful grassroots efforts to stop carbon dioxide pipeline projects across Central Illinois spurred residents to form a state coalition to push for legislation that "would restrict the use of eminent domain for these potentially dangerous pipelines," report Ilana Newman and Julia Tilton of The Daily Yonder.

While the purpose of carbon sequestration is to reduce the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere by pumping it underground, where it can no longer contribute to global warming, many communities don't want the installations near their homes. Breaks in CO2 pipelines are hazardous, and farmland where pipelines are placed is permanently altered.

In this case, before the coalition was formed, some Illinois farmland owners received letters from a Texas-based company called "Navigator," informing them that it planned to install carbon-sequestration pipelines across thousands of acres of land — including some of theirs. The letter also stated that Navigator agents would be visiting properties to conduct land surveys.

Steve Hess was one of the farmers Navigator representatives came to see. Hess told the Yonder, "The Navigator agent says, ‘if we get approval and you don’t like it, we can just use eminent domain and put the pipe in anyhow.’ And that really struck me the wrong way."

Once landowners like Hess and other area residents got wind of the Navigator's plans, they "formed the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines to fight Navigator and other CO2 pipelines in Illinois," Newman and Tilton explain. The group eventually "succeeded in stopping Navigator in 2023 and later, the proposed Iowa-Illinois Wolf pipeline in 2024."

The group has recently sent their state legislature "a bill that would ban companies from using eminent domain to seize land for CO2 pipelines," Newman adds. "The bill is a bipartisan effort with 22 cosponsors and endorsements from across industries."