A North Dakota judge just struck down the state’s pore space law, ruling that landowners cannot be forced into CO₂ storage projects without consent or compensation. The decision exposes how many public resources were spent defending a system that violated basic property rights. A major win for the Northwest Landowners Association and a major shift in the state’s energy politics.
The Northwest Landowners Association in 2023 sued North Dakota and the state Industrial Commission, which approves permits for permanent underground storage of carbon dioxide. The landowner group challenged a state law that requires landowners to allow carbon dioxide storage beneath their property if at least 60% of the affected landowners agree to the project.
Benson writes in his order that the state law is unconstitutional because it allows a government-authorized taking of property without an avenue for “just” compensation determined by a jury. In this case, the property is pore space – cavities in underground rock formations where emissions can be trapped.
Read about the ruling here and here: NWLA Order Granting Summary Judgment