Bold Nebraska

09/02/2026

Airplane Banner Over Osborn-Ricketts Senate Debate Reads: “Billionaire Ricketts Supports Data Centers”

Plane flyover sponsored by local group Bold Nebraska

Grand Island, NE – Attendees of the Nebraska State Fair and scheduled U.S. Senate debate this evening between independent candidate Dan Osborn and incumbent Republican Pete Ricketts will be greeted overhead by a plane flying a banner that reads: “Billionaire Ricketts Supports Data Centers.”

While Ricketts, whose billionaire parents have subsidized his entire political career, has called data centers “a matter of national security” citing Chinese communist boogeymen, Dan Osborn signed onto a candidate “AI Pact” which calls for advocating for mandatory safety reviews for AI models, supporting policies that would create an AI dividend for workers, and ensuring that consumers and companies can sue over harms caused by models – by networking with AI safety groups and other political organizations working on AI legislation.

“Pete Ricketts doesn't care about our communities and is willing to sell us out to Big Tech,” said Bold Nebraska founder and director Jane Kleeb. "Ricketts uses the bogeyman of China and yet, before Trump’s trade wars, they were a country we sold massive amounts of corn and soybeans to. Rather than creating a bogeyman as an excuse to run roughshod over communities, Ricketts should be proposing laws that have teeth, accountability and guardrails. Policies like ending eminent domain for private gain, closed loop systems, community benefits agreements and funding for first responders. These are all common sense solutions the Senate can act on but instead Ricketts kicks the can.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Sept. 1, 2026 Airplane Banner Over Osborn-Ricketts Senate Debate Reads: “Billionaire Ricketts Supports Data Centers” Plane flyover sponsored by local group Bold Nebraska Grand Island, NE – Attendees of the Nebraska State Fair and scheduled U.S. Senate debate this evening...

08/31/2026

“Five years ago, Summit Carbon Solutions rolled out its plan for the Midwest Carbon Express, a 2,000-mile pipeline designed to transport carbon dioxide collected from ethanol plants in five states and sequester it underground in North Dakota. The project has met fierce opposition across the multi-state route, resulting in Summit’s complete overhaul of the route and changing the intended purpose of the project,” Bonnie Ewoldt writes for NWIowa.com.

“...Landowners who were targeted for eminent domain by the decision filed an appeal in district court where the judge ruled that the case be remanded back to the IUC. The commission has yet to respond, and the permitting process for Summit’s CO2 pipeline is stalled.

With all the setbacks and delays, Summit has dropped over two hundred miles from the trunk line and stopped pursuing easements with four hundred landowners. The company is also entangled in litigation after being sued by international pipeline and valve manufacturing companies for failing to pay multi-million dollar contracts.

At this point, Summit is billions of dollars over budget and years behind schedule. Its reputation is tarnished, and investors are watching. Iowa voters should be watching, also.

As the upcoming midterm elections approach, voters must ask candidates if they will defend property rights and whether they are prepared to pass legislation that protects landowners from eminent domain abuse…

“We must elect candidates who prioritize property rights over corporate greed and will not hesitate to pass a commonsense law that ends the misuse of eminent domain for risky carbon dioxide pipelines in Iowa.”

Iowa voters must elect candidates who prioritize property rights

08/31/2026

“Summit Carbon Solutions is abandoning two-thirds of its planned project to store carbon dioxide underground in North Dakota,” the North Dakota Monitor reports.

“The company, which had been granted permits to store CO2 in three designated areas in central North Dakota, has requested permits for two of the areas to be canceled.

“Summit #1 and Summit #2 have determined as a matter of business judgment that they will not proceed with development, construction, operation, or implementation of either proposed storage facility,” Summit said in a filing with the North Dakota Supreme Court.

A North Dakota district court voided permits for all three areas earlier this year. Summit and the state are appealing that decision. But the company is now asking the Supreme Court to limit the appeal to one of the storage areas, known as Summit #3.

The company’s decision to abandon two of its storage facility permits is a victory for many of the landowners opposing the project. Most of those landowners have objected to what they characterize as the company’s unwillingness to negotiate on matters of liability and compensation…

“In an email last week, Summit said it is prioritizing Summit #3, where the company has about 98% of the storage rights secured.”

Summit Carbon Solutions is abandoning two-thirds of its planned project to store carbon dioxide underground in North Dakota.

08/27/2026

Add your name to the petition to stop Summit's risky CO2 pipeline and eminent domain land seizures in Nebraska.

Summit Carbon Solutions is proposing to build a huge multi-billion dollar pipeline across Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wyoming and other states, to pump hazardous carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from Midwest ethanol plants hundreds of miles either to underground waste dumps for supposedly permanent sto...

08/25/2026

New from Inside Climate News: The largest feedlot in the country is under construction in southwest Nebraska.

Once finished, 200,000 cattle will roam on a square-mile slab of concrete twice the size of the Astrodome parking lot in Houston.

The company behind the project, Blackshirt Feeders, is projected to pay nearly $440,000 in taxes, of which more than $250,000 will go toward county schools. It also promised to buy all the corn grown in the area to feed its cattle.

But local opponents have fought against it due to concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, odors and depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer.

Read more 🔗 https://buff.ly/dKl2XQ7

Story by Georgina Gustin / Inside Climate News. Photos by Sonya Doctorian / Inside Climate News.

08/24/2026

“The company planning to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through Iowa is being sued by a second pipeline parts company, this time for $6.6 million,” the Dickinson County News reports.

“SCS Carbon Transport LLC, an affiliate of Summit Carbon Solutions, is being sued by Patton Myhre Sourcing, a Texas-based company that Summit allegedly contracted with to purchase custom valves.

Patton Myhre Sourcing alleges Summit is in breach of its purchase contract and now owes more than $6.6 million for the valves it agreed to purchase in 2022 for the pipeline that, at the time of the contract, would have transported sequestered carbon dioxide from biorefineries in Iowa and surrounding states to underground storage in North Dakota.

Summit’s project has faced a number of delays since, including a ban on the use of eminent domain for carbon sequestration pipelines in South Dakota, and attempts to pass a similar law in Iowa…

“According to the lawsuit, Summit requested a series of payment delays and accommodations as the carbon sequestration pipeline project “stalled.” In 2025, the petition alleges, Summit said it “was electing not to pursue the project and no longer wanted the valves.”

“...This is the second pipeline parts company that has sued Summit for failing to uphold a purchase agreement. In 2024, the Arkansas pipe manufacturer Welspun Tubular sued Summit for $15 million after the company canceled its agreement with the pipe maker.”

The company planning to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through Iowa is being sued by a second pipeline parts company, this time for $6.6 million. SCS Carbon Transport LLC, an affiliate of Summit Carbon Solutions, is being sued by Patton Myhre Sourcing, a Texas-based company that Summit allege...

08/24/2026

“The Keystone XL pipeline could be back on the agenda, more than a decade after the controversial project put Nebraska at the center of a national debate over energy, property rights and environmental protection,” KETV reports.

“...For some Nebraskans who supported Keystone XL, Trump’s comments bring back memories of a fight that once dominated state politics…

“Jim Smith, a former Nebraska state senator and early supporter of the pipeline. described the Keystone XL debate as a “decade of kind of political warfare" but told KETV it was and still is a smart plan with few downsides…

“We might be talking about something here that’s not even realistic from a business standpoint, given what we’ve seen happen with these permits,” Rep. Mike Flood told KETV…

“Jane Kleeb, current chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and founder of the Bold Alliance, which organized opposition to the pipeline, said the project would face resistance again…

“Randy Thompson, a retired rancher and farmer, also opposes a potential revival. Thompson told KETV he was concerned about what the pipeline could mean for his family’s farm and other Nebraska landowners…

"They have no regard for the property rights of farmers and ranchers. We’re going to give a foreign company the use of eminent domain against Nebraska landowners.”

The Keystone XL pipeline could be back on the agenda, more than a decade after the controversial project put Nebraska at the center of a national debate over energy, property rights and environmental protection. This week, President Donald Trump floated the possibility of reviving the pipeline as pa...

08/21/2026

“The Iowa Utilities Commission must wait for a judge to resolve legal challenges before it can review Summit Carbon Solutions' new route for a carbon dioxide pipeline in Iowa,” KCCI reports.

“...Opponents of the project, including Shelby County, some Iowa landowners, and the Sierra Club, filed to stop the commission from approving Summit's new plan until a judge addresses their appeal.

The commission has filed a request asking a judge to allow it to move forward and review the new plan.

So far, no court dates have been set to address the legal challenges, according to the commission.”

Summit Carbon Solutions changed its proposed route, but opponents say regulators should not act just yet.

08/20/2026

“...They reflect the priorities Republican candidates campaign on and the principles contained in the Republican Party of Iowa platform, but there remains one issue on which the Iowa Senate continues to deny Iowans the vote they deserve: property rights,” State Sen. Kevin Alons writes for The Iowa Standard.

“After months of advocacy from landowners and legislators, Senate leadership chose to adjourn without allowing a vote on my amendment, Senate Amendment 5190. That amendment, co-sponsored by ten Republican senators, would have prohibited the use of eminent domain for carbon pipelines while still allowing companies such as Summit Carbon Solutions to pursue their projects through voluntary agreements with willing landowners.

That is not radical. It is not anti-business. It is not anti-development. It is a balanced, reasonable solution that recognizes economic opportunity while defending one of the most fundamental rights we possess as Americans: the right to own property without fear that government will seize it for the benefit of a private company.

Republicans should never be afraid to stand for that principle…

“When voters repeatedly ask their elected officials for action and those officials repeatedly refuse even to allow a vote, we should not be surprised when voters become frustrated…

“If Republicans lose, it cannot be blamed on those protecting our fundamental rights; it must be placed on those fighting for private interests.”

In 2016, Iowans had enough. At the federal level, voters rejected the status quo and helped send Donald Trump to the White House for his first term. He ushered in a presidency that would reshape American conservatism and redefine our nation’s role in the world. Here at home, Iowans were also tired...

08/19/2026

“Jane Kleeb, the founder and executive director of Bold Nebraska, the grassroots organization that organized landowner opposition to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline project, responded on Tuesday to a statement from President Trump announcing a “deal” with Canada that the project “may be awoken from the grave!”, the Pipeline Fighters Hub reports.

“It’s never being built. Americans don’t want a foreign export pipeline using eminent domain on farmers and ranchers. We’ve killed Keystone XL three times. We will do it again. Trump should focus on infrastructure that will actually bring costs down,” said Jane Kleeb, Founder and Executive Director at Bold Alliance.

Kleeb also spoke out back in April, when developers South Bow and Bridger jointly announced plans to revive parts of the defunct Keystone XL pipeline route with a new proposal: “You can rename it, rebrand it, repackage it — Keystone XL will never be built. For 13 years, a foreign oil corporation used the power of eminent domain to bully American landowners to take their land, all for Big Oil’s private gain. We refused to back down. We took them to court and fought to return those easements to farmers and ranchers. Keystone XL has no route, no easements, and no support in Nebraska.”

An op-ed co-authored by Bold Alliance attorney and energy policy advisor Paul Blackburn, and longtime pipeline fighter and advocate Kenny Bruno published in April further lays out the reasons why this project will never be built: “Keystone XL By Any Other Name Will Be Just As Crudely Sour.”

The Solar Barn built in the path of the Keystone XL pipeline in 2013. (Photo: Mary Anne Andrei) FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Aug. 18, 2026 “It’s never being built”: Bold Founder Jane Kleeb Responds to Trump Statement on Keystone XL Pipeline Hastings, NE — Jane Kleeb, the founder and executi...