A long highway stretching into the distance surrounded by flat snowy landscape.

Pipeline firm’s lawsuit blitz hits a wall in South Dakota as landowners push back

A carbon pipeline project stretching across five Midwest states faces an uncertain future after aggressive legal tactics by Summit Carbon Solutions sparked fierce opposition and new restrictions in South Dakota.

Eric Ferkenhoff and Josh Kelety report for Lee Enterprises and The Associated Press.

In short:

Summit Carbon Solutions filed 232 lawsuits against landowners in the Midwest, including 156 eminent domain cases in South Dakota alone, attempting to force access to land for its $9 billion carbon pipeline.
South Dakota lawmakers responded to the backlash by banning eminent domain for carbon pipelines, jeopardizing the project’s permit and triggering political shifts in the state legislature.
The pipeline would connect to ethanol plants to capture carbon emissions and store them underground in North Dakota, a move backed by the ethanol industry but challenged by farmers and environmental groups concerned about land rights and safety.

Key quote:

“They did this all to themselves. Their legal plan was, ‘We will force them into submission because the lawsuits will break them.’”

— Brian Jorde, attorney representing landowners

Why this matters:

The standoff over Summit Carbon Solutions’ proposed carbon dioxide pipeline through South Dakota is quickly becoming more than just a local dispute — it’s turning into a national proxy battle over the future of energy infrastructure, private property rights, and the credibility of climate solutions rooted in industrial agriculture. What’s happening in South Dakota is reverberating across the Midwest, catalyzing new legislation to restrict eminent domain, unseat incumbents sympathetic to the pipeline, and fuel grassroots resistance that bridges ideological lines. The debate is exposing the tension between urgent climate goals and the means used to pursue them.

apnews.com

Credit: Douglas Fischer

One lawyer's groundbreaking work in shaping climate law

As governments stall and emissions climb, human rights lawyers like Monica Feria-Tinta are turning to the courts to force climate action — one tree, island, or river at a time.

Samira Shackle reports for The Guardian.

In short:

Feria-Tinta is pioneering legal strategies that argue climate inaction violates human rights, helping Indigenous and vulnerable communities take their cases to global courts.
Her work includes landmark victories like the Torres Strait case, where the United Nations ruled Australia failed to protect islanders from climate harm, and Ecuador’s Los Cedros forest, which won legal rights as a living entity.
While legal wins are often slow and hard-fought, they’re shifting the global legal landscape, transforming courts into battlegrounds where climate justice and biodiversity now have a voice.

Key quote:

“Whether it’s a single tree, or a whole community depending on a river, what is at stake is the future of humanity.”

— Monica Feria-Tinta

Why this matters:

As heat, floods, and displacement intensify, the courtroom has become a potent line of defense. Climate litigation can hold powerful players accountable, push policy change, and help protect the ecosystems our health depends on — even when other systems fail. These legal wins are slow, complex, and anything but guaranteed. But they’re a signal that the courtroom is becoming one of the last places where the planet still stands a fighting chance.

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