As the world’s largest proposed carbon capture and storage (CCS) pipeline applies for permits, Oakland Institute‘s new report, The Midwest Carbon Express: A False Solution to the Climate Crisis, debunks the project and reveals the checkered history of the man behind it.
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Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions is developing the Midwest Carbon Express – $4.5 billion CCS pipeline that would run approximately 2,000 miles across five Midwestern states. According to Summit, the pipeline will capture, transport, and store 12 million metric tons of CO2 from 31 biorefineries annually.
Strong evidence exists that CCS projects have overpromised and underdelivered on climate mitigation benefits. The Midwest Carbon Express faces strong opposition from diverse stakeholders – Indigenous communities, landowners, and environmental groups. “Like the vast majority of other CCS projects, the Midwest Carbon Express will most likely be used for enhanced oil recovery – where instead of storing the captured CO2, it is injected into depleted underground oil reservoirs to boost oil production in currently depleted wells,” said Andy Currier, Researcher at the Oakland Institute and author of the report.
The report examines the credentials of Bruce Rastetter, the founder and CEO of Summit Climate Solution’s parent company. A prolific political donor, Rastetter has spent millions on federal, state, and local politics over the past two decades, wielding great influence in Iowa.
In 2011, as CEO of AgriSol Energy, Rastetter acquired over 800,000 acres of land – supposedly three “abandoned refugee camps” – to set up an agriculture enterprise in Tanzania. As exposed by the Oakland Institute, the project would have displaced over 162,000 smallholder farmers. Sustained citizen action against the project prevented mass displacement, with the project abandoned in 2012.
“Rastetter’s past ventures make it obvious that personal profits take precedence over the common good. As a wealthy, politically connected, agribusiness baron, Rastetter’s success is built on marginalizing small farmers from Iowa to Tanzania,” said Anuradha Mittal, Oakland Institute’s Executive Director. “If built, residents across the Midwest will take the risks – potential leaks, decreased property and crop values, and the likely allocation of public funds towards the project, while Summit and Bruce Rastetter will reap the profits.”