A South Dakota farmer named Jared Bossly is fighting to keep his farm, which has been in his family for four generations, out of the hands of greedy, green prairie fairies. He is one of roughly 80 farmers with lawsuits against the same green energy company looking to steal their land.
Summit is a company in the business of collecting carbon dioxide from ethanol plants and transporting it to North Dakota, where it is stored underground. The planned pipeline would be 1,958 miles long, 474 miles of which would be in South Dakota.
FACT-O-RAMA! The phrase “prairie fairies” is a term typically used to identify tree-hugging, flower-worshipping, soap-dodging hippy types. The phrase is not “gayophobic,” so save the hate mail.
Back Story
A green company called “Summit Carbon Solutions” is trying to purloin Bossly’s farm — in the name of eminent domain — to build a carbon capture pipeline, and they have GOP friends in high places, including Iowa’s former six-term governor Terry Branstad and former S.D. GOP state Chair Dan Lederman. Summit was also a big-wig sponsor of Gov. Kristi Noem’s (R-S.D.) inauguration.
Surveyors from Summit allegedly entered Bossly’s frame shop and home without consent.
What I am about to tell you should be the most important story in America but no national media is talking about it. Read this entire tweet.
One of the biggest invasions of property rights in American history is currently happening in South Dakota to expand green energy.
This… pic.twitter.com/li1ErwsdTy
— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 31, 2023
The surveyors accused Bossly of threatening to shoot them if they returned and asked a judge to hold him in contempt. The judge refused to do so. Bossly claims he never made the threat. Some believe the alleged threat was bogus, and was likely intended to scare off other farmers who may resist Summit’s land grab.
Bossly claims the Summit surveyors illegally entered his home while Bossly was in the fields and his wife was showering.
Mrs. Bossly allegedly got dressed and told her husband what was happening. Summit claims she put the phone on speaker and Mr. Bossly allegedly bellowed — in a six-second call — that he would shoot the first surveyor he saw.
IRONY-O-RAMA! Bossly planted trees to serve as a shield from the wind for his cattle. Summit, a “green” company, will likely bulldoze them down if they succeed in taking the farm.
Whereas various GOP pols have abandoned Bossly, the South Dakota Freedom Caucus has his back.
From their website:
The Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, states that the government may only exercise the power of eminent domain to take private property from citizens if they pay just compensation to the property owners and it is for the public use.
The use of eminent domain by a private company is unconstitutional and unacceptable, let alone for something like carbon-dioxide sequestration, or the long-term storage of CO2 underground.
But that’s exactly what’s happening to hundreds of East-River South Dakota landowners; and what’s worse, it’s “legal” under South Dakota law! (SDCL § 49-7-13)
Bossly’s victory over the contempt charge is just the beginning. He and the other farmers have a long fight ahead of them against a large, well-funded green business looking to steal land that’s been in their families for generations.
You can help the farmers fight back by signing a petition or donating to the cause by clicking here.
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