Online Screening and Q&A Features Subjects of New Short Film Exposing Dangers of CO2 Pipelines, Abuse of Eminent Domain to Seize Farmland for Risky Carbon Capture Boondoggle

An online screening & Q&A on Aug. 13 featured subjects of a new documentary short film exposing the risks of Carbon Capture & Storage (CCS) and the hazardous carbon dioxide (CO2) pipelines associated with the technology. “UNDER PRESSURE: A Carbon Capture Land Grab Threatens Rural America” juxtaposes interviews with victims and first responders of a 2020 CO2 pipeline rupture in Satartia, Mississippi with interviews of Midwestern landowners, where a multi-billion dollar corporation is poised to seize farmland from hundreds of families via eminent domain for the world’s largest CO2 pipeline.

The 10-minute film was produced and directed by Elisa Gambino and produced by Bold Alliance. Special thanks to the late journalist Dan Zegart, who provided Bold with access to the 911 recordings heard in the film, which he obtained through Freedom of Information Act requests. Dan documented the 2020 pipeline disaster in his award-winning reporting published by Huffington Post: “Gassing Satartia.”

• WHAT: “Under Pressure” CO2 Pipeline Documentary Online Screening and Q&A
• WHO: Participants interviewed in the film, including:
  • Jack Willingham, Yazoo County Emergency Management Director (first responder during the 2020 Satartia pipeline rupture)
  • Dennis Valen, Iowa landowner featured in “Under Pressure”
  • Jan Norris, Iowa landowner in “Under Pressure”

“Satartia should have been a wake-up call, but half a decade later, and we still don’t have meaningful federal safety protocols in place for CO2 pipelines. Our elected leaders need to put their constituents, not corporations, first and rein the carbon pipeline industry in before it’s too late,” said Dennis Valen, an Iowa landowner facing eminent domain takings for a CO2 pipeline.

“The carbon pipeline industry, its opponents, along with state and local governments, are all aware that current safety standards are inadequate. Yet, the most meaningful safety practices to be enforced in recent years came from a Community Benefits Agreement between Bold Alliance and Tallgrass Energy, not from federal regulators. If we can’t stop every hazardous carbon pipeline, then we need to guarantee that impacted communities are aware of the risks they are facing. Under Pressure shows the reality of the burden that the carbon pipeline industry places on our communities,” said Emma Schmit, Bold Alliance’s Pipeline Fighters Director.

Viewers of the film are encouraged to take action by signing onto a Bold Alliance petition against the proposed federalization of permitting for carbon pipelines, to “Stop the federal carbon pipeline boondoggle land grab.”

View “UNDER PRESSURE” on YouTube:

View the petition page:
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-eminent-domain-for-private-gain-stop-the-federal-carbon-pipeline-boondoggle-land-grab

Q&A Chat Text: 

00:35:38 Mark Hefflinger: You may type a question in the chat at any time, or else use the Q&A button on Zoom to type your question and we will get to them after the speakers.

01:25:58 Mark Hefflinger: TAKE ACTION #1:
Learn more about organizing landowners into a legal co-op: Easement Action Teams LLC
https://easementllc.org/

01:27:00 Mark Hefflinger: TAKE ACTION #2
1. Sign the petition – Stop the federal carbon pipeline boondoggle land grab
https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/no-eminent-domain-for-private-gain-stop-the-federal-carbon-pipeline-boondoggle-land-grab

01:27:29 Mark Hefflinger: TAKE ACTION #3:
Register for the Aug. 14 (6pm CT) CCS Action Network webinar: Charting the Next Front in the Fight Against CCS:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeqB0auU6_bpu296tQqNU5sr2HKzAdt6PpmIiJFvzqpkusTdA/viewform

01:29:22 Jessica Mazour: Come to the IUC Meeting on Wednesday, 8/20 @ 9am. Landowner lunch to follow. RSVP here: https://forms.gle/qKqqW94d2T9RvLK77