Brian McLain is a past chair of the Iowa Democratic Party’s Progressive Caucus and is now a provisional State Central Committee member for that caucus.
On June 27, 98 leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party released the following statement denouncing the Iowa Utilities Board’s decision to approve the use of eminent domain for Summit Carbon Solutions’ carbon pipeline:
“We, the undersigned leaders of the Iowa Democratic Party, are extremely disappointed with the Iowa Utilities Board’s recent approval of the use of eminent domain to acquire landowners’ property for construction of the Summit carbon capture pipeline. This short-term gain for big agribusiness only hurts the long-term sustainability of rural Iowa and the state of Iowa as a whole.
“Corporate profits are being prioritized over rural and environmental justice. By the use of eminent domain to enrich the pockets of the few, rural communities are being sacrificed through their land, water, and vitality. Not only does this affect rural Iowa, but those Iowans who live in larger municipalities will also suffer the consequences of the overproduction of corn with higher costs of water and further degradation of the Iowa landscape.
“As Iowa Democratic Party leaders, we stand in alignment with Iowa Democratic Platform Plank #85 opposing eminent domain abuse and Plank #53 opposing carbon capture storage.
“It is our sincere hope this pipeline will eventually be stopped for the safety and health of all Iowans.”
Signatories:
Ahna Kruzic, Rural Caucus Chair
Tatum Watkins, Rural Caucus Vice-Chair
Sean Dengler, Rural Caucus Provisional State Central Committee
Whitney Mixdorf, Cerro Gordo County Vice-Chair & Communications
Shelley Pimlott, Butler County 2nd Vice-Chair
Robert “Tripp” Narup, 3rd District Treasurer, Montgomery County Treasurer
David McFarland, Dallas County Vice-Chair, 3rd District Central Committee Member, State Platform Committee Member
Dr Chris Siebrasse, Guthrie County Vice-Chair
Jan Norris, Montgomery County Chair, State Central Committee
Lisa Lima, Pottawattamie County Party Chair
Judy Kading, Adair County Secretary
Denise O’Brien, Cass County Chair
Catheryn Dingman, Hamilton County Chair
Glenn Hurst, MD, past U.S. Senate candidate, Minden City Council-person
Tommy Hexter, Poweshiek Soil and Water Conservation District Commissioner, Iowa House District 53 candidate
Nannette Griffin, Iowa Senate District 50 candidate
Andrew Leonard, Progressive Caucus Chair
Jackie Cordon, 3rd District 1st Vice-Chair; Adams County Chair
Candella Foley-Finchem, Mills County Chair, Iowa House District 16 candidate
Brian McLain, Progressive Caucus State Central Committee Provisional Member
Vielka Rivera Wambold, Clarke County Chair, 3rd District 2nd Vice-Chair; State Central Committee; Latino Caucus
Joshua Drewelow, Marshall County Chair
Carol A Meyer, Cerro Gordo County Chair
Madalyn Anderson, Story County Chair
Tracy Murphy, Madison County Chair
Carter Griffin, Story County Vice-Chair
Deb Hansen, Polk County Vice-Chair, 3rd District Committee, Johnston Area Democrats Chair
Rob Lundquist, Taylor County Vice-Chair
Molly Donahue, State Senator, Iowa Senate District 37, Linn County Supervisor candidate
Susan Frembgen, County, District, State Leader
Benjamin Schauer, Harrison County Chair, Iowa House District 15 candidate
Donna Gerling, Louisa County Democrat
Alexandra Nickolas-Dermody, Progressive Caucus Vice-Chair
Amy Adams, Fayette County Co-Chair
Carol Gillette, Louisa County Central Committee Member
Jean Semsch, Scott County Recording Secretary
Paula Buckman, Louisa County Treasurer
Jennifer Herrington, Page County Chair
Claudia Tillman, Winnebago County Treasurer
Kim Callahan, 3rd District Chair, 2024 DNC Delegate
Joseph Tillman, Winnebago County Democrat
Susan Benderson, Linn County Rural Caucus Chair
Mary Stewart, State Central Committee, Wapello County Secretary
Ryan Melton, U.S. House of Representatives, IA-04 candidate
Jill Fender, Mills County Vice-Chair
Nedra Conrad, Women’s Caucus Vice-Chair, Iowa Democratic Party Ambassador, Webster County Democrats Treasurer
Lincoln Addis, Polk County Democrat
Stephanie Zarr, Cherokee County Chair
Amy Stickrod, Mills County Treasurer
Trevor Holland , 3rd District Secretary, State Central Committee
Jordan True, Disability Caucus Chair
Shawna Anderson, Pottawattmie County Vice-Chair
Ashley Anderson, Platform Committee Co-Secretary
Patricia Shipley, Adams County Secretary
John Hogeland, Monroe County Chair
Chris Gilbert, Adams County Treasurer
Ryan Condon, Iowa House District 51 candidate
Tom O’Donnell, Van Buren County Secretary
Jean Sterner, 4th District Convention Delegate
Van Sterner, 4th District Convention Alternate
Mary Weaver, Women’s Caucus Chair, Iowa Democratic Party Ambassador, PRO Iowa 24 PAC Chair
Kristopher Hoffman, Appanoose County Chair
Pamela Burlin, Lucas County Secretary
Barb Nelson, Montgomery County Vice Chair
Karen Varley, Iowa House District 23 candidate
Jim Eliason, Buena Vista County Chair, State Rules committee
Shawn Ellerbroek, Iowa House District 57 candidate
Gail Allison, Iowa House District 58 candidate, Chickasaw County Central Committee
Margaret Liston, Boone County Vice-Chair, Ogden City Council-person
Lisa Lawler, Hardin County Supervisor candidate, Hardin County Democrats Secretary
Terri Hotek, Davis County Treasurer
Matt Robinson, Dubuque County Chair
Leandra Sunseri, Black Hawk County Secretary
Deb Julich, Carroll County Chair
Sheila S Westegard, Davis County Precinct Co-chair
Richard Lorence, Iowa Senate District 30 candidate
John Brunow, Greene County Chair
Cheryll Jones, Davis County Chair
David Dawson, Woodbury County Chair
Susan Smith, Greene County Delegate
Kimberlee Sears, Cass County Secretary
Frank Pastorino, Madison County Democrats Vice- Chair
Mary McAdams, State Central Committee
Warren Varley, Adair County Democrat
Chris Henning, Greene County Vice Chair, Raccoon River Watershed Assoc President
Sharon Kendall-Dunn, Scott County Democratic Party Executive
Brian Simpson, Labor Caucus Chair
Joe Hadar, Humboldt County Chair
Barbara Kalbach, Adair County Vice-Chair
Kay Pence, Scott County Chair
Adam Peters, Stonewall Caucus Chair
Marie Herring, 3rd District Central Committee
Pam Deichmann, Madison County Democrat
Mike Carberry, Climate & Environmental Caucus Vice-Chair
Jeffrey Topel, Jefferson County Democrat
Larry Peterson, Crawford County Chair
Jessica Lopez-Walker, Iowa House District 2 candidate
Shannon Brisbois, Polk County Democrat
3 Comments
Democrats Acting for Iowans
Democrats get a bad rap in rural areas for not caring about people outside urban areas. It has never been true, and this action might show a lot of people who is really trying to protect rural Iowa. Eminent domain is needed sometimes, but a pipeline that can be destructive is another matter.
This isn’t an easy decision for many, but it is the right one for what’s right.
Thank you for signing your names.
boji Sat 29 Jun 1:12 AM
It's true, eminent domain is needed sometimes.
But the basic standards need to be met, and one of them is public benefit, not just benefit for Bruce Rastetter, his political and business buddies, and the already-entitled-and-much-subsidized ethanol industry. It should be noted that this decision is so egregiously bad that even some Republican legislators are going on record as not liking it either.
PrairieFan Sat 29 Jun 4:51 PM
What else did we expect?
Bruce L. Rastetter is royalty in Iowa, the Republican Legislature is his court, and we are the peasants, riddled with cancers from pesticides.
At least we get monies to send our kids to subpar religious schools, and occasionally Dennis Albaugh let us admire his car collection.
Karl M Sun 30 Jun 11:57 AM