A group of lawmakers pressing to prohibit Summit Carbon Solutions from seizing land along its proposed carbon pipeline route says they’ve got new ideas for the 2026 legislative session. The group’s also calling for an apology from top Senate Republicans who publicly criticized 12 G-O-P colleagues who forced a Senate vote on a bill with pipeline restrictions. Republican Representative Steven Holt of Denison hosted an event this weekend that four of those senators attended.
“Their leadership put them through hell,” Holt said. “Their leadership said things on the floor that I have never heard and I’m embarrassed as a Republican to have ever heard, but they stood fast.”
Republican Representative Charley Thomson of Charles City has helped draft the bill the senate passed — and Governor Reynolds vetoed in June. Thomson says seeing which Senators voted against that bill is important.
“We know who’s on the other side. They’ve identified themselves. We’ve forced them out of the bushes. That’s who the problem people are,” Thomson said. “That is a huge tactical advantage.”
Holt says if Senate Republican leadership is looking for a quick compromise on the issue, they can vote on a bill the House passed last year to forbid Summit from seizing ag land from unwilling property owners.
“This issue is not going away.”
Holt’s comments were made at a Sunday afternoon rally in Shelby County. That county’s board of supervisors voted last month to seek U.S. Supreme Court review of the lawsuit Summit filed to block Shelby County’s pipeline ordinance. A federal appeals court has ruled in favor of Summit and against the county’s ordinance that established no-go zones around homes, schools and other structures.
Story and photo courtesy Radio Iowa. Full story here: https://www.radioiowa.com/2025/10/07/group-of-iowa-gop-lawmakers-on-pipeline-push-back-in-2026/
