Bold Alliance

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...

08/19/2026

“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.”

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 […]

08/14/2026

McCook Gazette: Nebraska advocate urges opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline, citing safety, landowner and taxpayer concerns

Shelli Meyer, Nebraska Director, Bold Alliance and Education Fund, 8/13/26

“Fellow Nebraskans: are you aware of the carbon dioxide pipeline targeting our communities in our southern counties? An out-of-state corporation, Summit Carbon Solutions, is proposing to route a highly pressurized pipeline transporting CO2, a known asphyxiant, through Southern Nebraska. Why? Because the federal government is offering billions of our tax dollars to them for injecting the toxic, CO2 waste underground,” Shelli Meyer writes for the McCook Gazette.

“Not only is this a bad deal for taxpayers, it’s a bad deal for the landowners and communities who have to absorb the risks for the company’s private reward. From the potential of a pipeline rupture like the one in Satartia, MS that sent nearly 50 people to the hospital and required the evacuation of hundreds more, to declining yields and property values, and the threat of eminent domain, this proposed pipeline seems to offer everyda Nebraskans nothing but grief.

This land feeds and fuels America, let’s not destroy it for the profit of Summit and its billionaire investors.”

A Nebraska advocate urges opposition to Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed CO2 pipeline, citing safety, landowner and taxpayer concerns.

08/11/2026

VIEW RECORDING: Hoosiers opposed to risky “carbon capture, utilization & storage” (CCUS) boondoggle projects hosted guest speaker Lindsey Gulden, a climate and data scientist originally from Indiana who, along with her co-worker Damien Burch, blew the whistle in 2019 on over 10 billion dollars worth of fraud at ExxonMobil after discovering the deliberate overvaluation of an oil and gas asset in the Permian Basin.

Gulden is also an expert on the topic of carbon capture and storage, and has worked on Class VI carbon sequestration well permit application reviews and appeals to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Gulden authored a recent report in Environmental Science & Policy titled “Tracing sources of funds used to lobby the US government about carbon capture, use, and storage,” and will speak about the risks of CO2 sequestration, as well as the 45Q tax credits underpinning the CCS industry.

The Indiana Action Team plans to oppose the state’s forthcoming “primacy” application before the U.S. EPA, which by statute will include a process with a public hearing and comment period.

Bold’s other Easement Teams in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota have been organizing landowner opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline for years. Bold’s Easement Teams are helping fund attorneys who have represented landowners at agency hearings that resulted in pipeline permit rejections in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the most-contested project in the history at the Iowa Utilities Commission, where landowners with the Iowa Easement Team also continue to challenge Summit’s pipeline route approval in the courts.

(NOTE: Apologies – The first three minutes of the program were not recorded, including introductions.) Hoosiers opposed to risky “carbon capture, utilization & storage” (CCUS) boondoggle projects will host guest […]

08/06/2026

“...But this proposed piece of infrastructure would be carrying a different product from what Shapka’s community was used to—carbon dioxide,” DeSmog reports. “Dr. Amil Shapka was alarmed, and soon too were many inhabitants of the County of St. Paul, a rural community roughly 140 kilometres northeast of Edmonton. St. Paul is not far from Cold Lake, Alberta, ground-zero for a $20 billion carbon capture and storage (CCS) project that received the go-ahead from Canada’s federal government in July.

Shapka’s elderly neighbour had “questions about whether he should sign the easement for a [CO2] pipeline,” Shapka told DeSmog in an interview. “There had been no talk of it in the community, nothing in the local papers, nothing in the coffee shops.”

Soon residents were learning about a 2020 carbon pipeline explosion in Satartia, Mississippi, which led to more than 45 people being hospitalized as leaking CO2 made its way through the rural community. The prospect of another major disaster quickly mobilized the residents of St. Paul county…

“Earlier this year, Shapka helped launch No CO2 Pipelines Alberta, an organization that has become one of the loudest voices against the carbon capture and storage mega-project backed by the Liberal government of Prime Minister Mark Carney, the United Conservative Party government of Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, and the country’s largest oil companies…

“At a time when environmentalism has been portrayed by conservatives and fossil fuel boosters as something that only appeals to progressive urban elites, No CO2 Pipelines is uniting Indigenous communities, farmers, landowners, and other concerned parties who oppose the siting of CCS infrastructure in their communities.

Two-thousand miles to the southeast, in Iowa, a similar grassroots opposition campaign has been building against CO2 pipelines…

“Instead, Rastetter discovered opposition to carbon capture was as bipartisan as it was grassroots…

“Summit Carbon’s CCS project is still facing considerable opposition in Iowa…

“But project opponents are still concerned about the carbon capture project’s impact elsewhere in the state, and have asked the Iowa Utilities Commission to deny the project.”

Seemingly unlikely alliances are springing up in Canada and the U.S. to prevent rural communities from becoming a ‘toxic CO2 dumping ground’.

07/30/2026

“More than 75 national, state and local organizations [including Bold] are urging Congress to reject pending pipeline safety legislation, arguing the current proposal fails to adequately protect communities from the rapid expansion of CO2 pipelines,” the Carbon Herald reports.

“In a letter released Tuesday, the coalition called on lawmakers to draft a stronger reauthorization package that includes enforceable safety standards, protections for first responders and safeguards for local decision making before additional carbon dioxide pipeline projects move forward.

The organizations contend the legislation under consideration leaves major regulatory gaps despite years of scrutiny following the 2020 carbon dioxide pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi.

They also pointed to the U.S. Treasury’s estimate that nearly $70 billion in industry tax credits authorized under last year’s “One Big Beautiful Bill” could support a significant expansion of carbon dioxide pipeline infrastructure.

The coalition said Congress should not approve new pipeline development without establishing minimum federal protections for nearby communities and emergency responders.

The advocacy groups are also asking congressional leaders to reconcile House and Senate proposals by incorporating stronger public safety measures rather than advancing what they describe as an industry-friendly framework.”

Over 75 national, state and local organizations urge Congress to reject pipeline safety legislation, saying it won't protect communities.

07/28/2026

Bold joined 75+ groups in a letter to Congress today demanding they reject weak CO2 pipeline regulations in the current Pipeline Safety Act bill:

"As Congressional leaders prepare to negotiate a final pipeline safety reauthorization package, more than 75 national, state and local organizations urged Congressional leaders to reject any legislation that fails to meaningfully protect communities from the rapid expansion of carbon dioxide pipelines. The groups warn that the current proposal leaves in place significant safety gaps unaddressed despite years of warnings following a 2020 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi. The pipeline buildout is backed by what the U.S. Treasury estimates will be nearly $70 billion in industry tax credits authorized in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” that passed last year.

While Congress is considering legislation in the name of pipeline safety, the coalition points out the current legislation fails to establish minimum protections for communities and first responders that are necessary before the industry is allowed to build tens of thousands of miles of new carbon dioxide pipelines. The letter also points out that the administration is actively weakening existing pipeline safety oversight and enforcement, making all pipelines less safe.

The letter comes as Congressional leaders must reconcile differing pipeline safety bills that passed through House and Senate Committees, and the White House is cutting oversight and enforcement for pipeline safety across the board.

“Landowners should not be criminalized for protecting their private property rights,” said Emma Schmit, Bold's Pipeline Fighters Organizing Director. “Farmers who have been waiting on federal regulations for years now should not be forced to accept potentially deadly CO2 pipelines on their farms through eminent domain. Without any adequate federal rules, the industry is plowing forward seeking state authorizations for dangerously unregulated projects while keeping the public in the dark with regard to the full scope of potential risks.”

“Congress is telling communities to shoulder all the health and safety risks while pipeline companies are making off with billions in taxpayer dollars. Communities deserve more than empty promises about stronger rules at some point in the future. If lawmakers are serious about pipeline safety, they should stop drafting bills to benefit the pipeline companies and start drafting them for people who have to live with the consequences of these dangerous projects,” said Jim Walsh, Policy Director, Food & Water Watch.

"There’s no pipeline safety when the regulations are drafted by the oil and gas industry. For decades, fossil-fuel infrastructure including pipelines have dictated lifespans across Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low-income neighborhoods, exposing these communities to higher rates of disease and early mortality. As the Trump Administration dismantles more and more safeguards, we will see even more chronic illnesses and dangerous pipeline disasters that harm our neighbors and families. Congress must pass comprehensive pipeline safety standards that actually safeguard people’s lives and livelihoods — not cut corners for industry profit." – Mar Zepeda, Legislative Director at Climate Justice Alliance.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 28, 2026 75+ Groups Call on Congressional Leaders to Reject Weak CO2 Pipeline Safety Package Groups say Congress should go back to the drawing board and […]

07/23/2026

Landowners with the Iowa Easement Team landowners’ legal co-op, and grassroots advocates opposed to risky carbon pipelines and the use of eminent domain to seize private property to build them, hosted an informational rest stop this week for the more than 20,000 bike riders on the 391-mile annual “RAGBRAI” bike ride across Iowa.

With temperatures in the 90’s, the “No CO2 Pipeline Awareness Watering Station” featured a very popular sno-cone giveaway that handed out 500 icy treats, along with custom bike helmet stickers that read, “Cyclists Against CO2 Pipelines.” A series of huge 12 by 8 signs at the rest stop read: “From Fertile Fields to Stolen Land. For Our Rights, We’ll Take a Stand. No Summit Carbon Pipeline!” and “Carbon Pipelines Are a Dirty Game. Taking What’s Ours With No Shame. No Eminent Domain!”

Another flock of yard signs greeted riders with a series of messages:

“You Came to See Our Countryside / Thanks for Taking This Little Ride / Help Keep Iowa Farms Alive / Oppose the Summit Pipeline”

“The View is Grand / The Corn is Fine / Please Don’t Add a Forced Pipeline / Thanks for Stopping Through Our Town / Don’t Let Our Rights Fall Down / Talk to Candidates Every Day / Don’t Give Our Property Rights Away”

Volunteer landowners operating the rest stop had conversations with folks from Florida to Alaska – and multiple people remembered our No CO2 Pipeline watering stations at previous years’ rides.

“RAGBRAI is so unique in that cyclists from all over the world gather to ride across our beautiful state. We had riders from all across the country stop and talk about property rights and eminent domain abuse. It’s a universal problem and there is a renewed awareness,” said Sherri Webb, Shelby County impacted landowner.

“While on the surface, RAGBRAI and opposing a risky CO2 pipeline may not have much in common, at the root of it, there are strong similarities. Both are about appreciating Iowa’s landscape and the traditions it holds. Thousands of riders will spend this week pedaling past farms that families have protected for generations, the same farms landowners are now fighting to keep out of a pipeline company's path. We're all persevering, we're all fighting hard, and we're all doing it because this land is worth it,” said Emma Schmit, Pipeline Fighters’ Organizing Director for Bold Alliance.

Bold’s Easement Teams in Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota have also been organizing landowner opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline for years. Bold’s Easement Teams are helping fund attorneys who have represented landowners at agency hearings that resulted in pipeline permit rejections in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the most-contested project in the history at the Iowa Utilities Commission, where landowners with the Iowa Easement Team also continue to challenge Summit’s pipeline route approval in the courts.

View the photos

07/17/2026

Albion News: Fellow Nebraskans: are you aware of the carbon dioxide pipeline targeting our communities?
Shelli Meyer is the Nebraska Director at Bold Alliance, 7/16/26

“Fellow Nebraskans: are you aware of the carbon dioxide pipeline targeting our communities? An out-of-state corporation, Summit Carbon Solutions, is proposing to route a highly pressurized pipeline transporting CO2, a known asphyxiant, through Nebraska. Why? Because the federal government is offering billions of our tax dollars to them for injecting the toxic, CO2 waste underground,” Shelli Meyer writes for the Albion News. “Not only is this a bad deal for taxpayers, it’s a bad deal for the landowners and communities who have to absorb the risks for the company’s private reward. From the potential of a pipeline rupture like the one in Satartia, MS that sent nearly 50 people to the hospital and required the evacuation of hundreds more, to declining yields and property values, and the threat of eminent domain, this proposed pipeline seems to offer everyday Nebraskans nothing but grief. This land feeds and fuels America, let’s not destroy it for the profit of Summit and its billionaire investors.”

07/14/2026

WATCH LIVESTREAM TODAY (7/14), 1:30pm CT:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKIUvjBir8uP5RZJ4yS1OEA)

North Dakota landowners facing eminent domain seizure of their property against their wishes for Summit Carbon’s proposed multi-state CO2 pipeline are scheduled to deliver oral arguments in Bismarck on July 14 in their appeal of the North Dakota Public Service Commission’s (PSC) approval of a permit for the project.

The consolidated appeal before a district court judge in the South Central Judicial District will also include arguments from Burleigh County, which is appealing the PSC’s permit approval as well.

The appellants are appealing certain findings of the PSC; the PSC’s ability to preempt local ordinances and regulations; and the PSC’s decision to keep confidential the findings of a study on the impacts of a potential pipeline rupture and how far the gas plume may travel. Summit Carbon and the PSC are opposing the appeal.

WHAT: Summit CO2 Pipeline North Dakota Permit Appeal Hearing
WHO: Appellants – North Dakota landowners, Burleigh County
WHEN: Tuesday, July 14, 2026, 1:30 p.m.
WHERE: (Attend in person): Burleigh County Courthouse, 514 E. Thayer Ave., Bismarck, ND 58501
VIEW LIVESTREAM: https://www.ndcourts.gov/court-locations/south-central
(YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKIUvjBir8uP5RZJ4yS1OEA)

“After five years of North Dakotans having their rights trampled on by an out-of-state corporation, we are hopeful that the court will agree with the arguments put forth by landowners and Burleigh County,” said Emma Schmit, Bold’s Pipeline Fighters Director. “Across the midwest, landowners and legislators have made it clear that we must protect our lands and legacies ahead of the private profits of the pipeline industry.”

The ND PSC Commissioners previously unanimously rejected Summit Carbon’s first attempt to obtain a CO2 pipeline permit in 2023, but ultimately approved a renewed permit application from Summit in November 2024. That permit decision by the ND PSC is being challenged at the July 14 hearing.

Summit also obtained a permit for planned CO2 injection wells from the North Dakota Industrial Commission in December 2024. But, after the citizens of South Dakota voted overwhelmingly to ban the use of eminent domain to seize landowners’ private property for CO2 pipelines, Summit was confronted with a “pipeline to nowhere,” as its plan was to pipe the CO2 through South Dakota into North Dakota.

Now, Summit says its new plan is to instead attempt to obtain a pipeline route directly across the entire state of Nebraska, to an alternate underground CO2 waste dump site in Wyoming. The company will also switch focus from offering ethanol plants a way to improve their “carbon scores,” to “enhanced oil recovery” as a potential use for the captured CO2 – erasing whatever climate benefits the company and its ethanol plant partners are claiming from the project, if the CO2 will instead be utilized to extract and burn more oil.

Bold’s Easement Teams in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota and North Dakota have been organizing landowner opposition to the Summit CO2 pipeline for years. The Easement Teams are helping fund attorneys who have represented landowners at agency hearings that resulted in pipeline permit rejections in North Dakota and South Dakota, and the most-contested project in the history at the Iowa Utilities Commission, where landowners with the Iowa Easement Team also continue to challenge Summit’s pipeline route approval in the courts.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 9, 2026 North Dakota Court to Hear Landowners, Burleigh County Appeal of PSC’s Summit CO2 Pipeline Permit on July 14 Court hearing will be live-streamed on […]