A North Dakota district judge has struck down a state law that allowed carbon dioxide to be stored underground beneath private land without full landowner consent. The court found the law unconstitutional because it permits a taking of property without compensation. The ruling casts uncertainty over major carbon capture projects, including Summit Carbon Solutions and Minnkota’s Project Tundra, and could affect coal, oil and gas operations. The energy industry responds to the ruling, claiming that it creates “uncertainty” for them. Derrick Braaten thinks they would be a little braver about uncertainty if they had ever bet their livelihood on their ability to raise a crop on the Northern Plains.
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