Support a ban on the use of eminent domain for CO2 pipelines
The carbon capture and storage regulatory bill that Eco-Justice Collaborative helped draft and negotiate passed in 2024 without some important provisions. One of those would have protected the state's sole source aquifer from CO2 pollution. The other would have protected our residents from a release of CO2 from CO2 pipelines that carry a toxic asphyxiant.
Last year, we worked with the Illinois legislature to pass a ban on injecting CO2 through and storing it under the Mahomet Aquifer, which had been omitted from the regulatory bill. This year, we are partnering with landowner group Citizen Heartland Greenwashing Projects to pass a ban that would eliminate the use of eminent domain for hazardous CO2 pipelines.
Why does this bill do?
SB 2842 is a landowner rights bill that would require private companies to negotiate with farmers and other landowners whose properties would be crossed by a CO2 pipeline or located along a proposed route. The granting of eminent domain that they are given by state law means they lack the incentive to move a pipeline to reduce damage to farmland and operations, limit the use of the property, and route their pipeline far enough away to avoid harm (or even death) should their CO2 pipeline leak or rupture.
Click here for a fact sheet that identifies endorsing organizations, which include Eco-Justice Collaborative, the Illinois Environmental Council, and the Illinois Chapter of the Sierra Club.
Will you help by sending a letter to your Illinois legislators?
Hearings are being scheduled for SB 2842. Our team would like to submit the interactive map to the left to the Senate Energy and Public Utilities Committee as a way to show the immense support this bill has across the state of Illinois.
Please use the form below to send your letter today. When you do, your letter will appear as a pin on our map when we next update it (which happens every few days).
There are 14 sequestration projects planned in Illinois, and all of them will require CO2 pipelines. Take a moment to protect Illinois families from a project that can take their property, restrict the use of their land, reduce crop yield, and potentially harm—or even kill—people and livestock if the CO2 pipeline were to leak or rupture.
