BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum has emerged as a serious candidate to become Donald Trump’s running mate. He is one of the president’s most loyal and vocal supporters and brings leadership experience, business acumen and close ties to deep-pocketed energy industry CEOs. Trump wants their money to help finance his third run for the White House.
But at home, far from the fierce campaign trail, the two-term governor is wrestling with a $5.5 billion carbon dioxide pipeline project that has divided his state and left him at an uncomfortable political divide, as Trump and President Joe Biden grimly offer voters. different views on how we should tackle – or ignore – climate change.
A pipeline champion
Burgum is in favor of the carbon pipeline, which is funded by hundreds of investors and will be built by Summit Carbon Solutions of Ames, Iowa. The project would collect planet-warming CO2 from ethanol plants in the Midwest and permanently deposit the potentially harmful gas a mile underground in west-central North Dakota.
The CO2 pipeline aligns with Biden’s push to tackle climate change, a position that could put Burgum at odds with Trump.
In supporting the pipeline, Burgum is navigating the tricky politics of land ownership in deep-red North Dakota and climate change within the Republican Party.
While Burgum has outlined plans to make North Dakota carbon neutral by 2030, he has not described the pipeline or other carbon capture initiatives as environmentally friendly. Instead, he’s touting them as a lucrative business opportunity for North Dakota that could ultimately help the fossil fuel industry.
“This has nothing to do with climate change,” Burgum said on a radio program in North Dakota in early March. “This has to do with markets.”
Problems at home
The backlash in North Dakota to the Summit project was intense, with Burgum caught in the crossfire. There are fears that a pipeline rupture would release a deadly cloud of CO2. Landowners fear their property values will drop if the pipeline runs under their land. And they are outraged by what they say are heavy-handed tactics Summit is using to secure the easements it needs for the massive project.
Kurt Swenson and his family own or have an interest in 1,750 acres at or near the proposed storage site. At a public hearing earlier this month on Summit’s permit application, Swenson said he had a warning for anyone who tries to take his land without his permission.
“It seems like everyone wants what’s not theirs,” Swenson said. “Eventually you will take it from my cold, dead hands. And you’ll see how that works out for you.”
Summit said it has entered into easement agreements with landowners along 82% of the pipeline’s route in North Dakota and has secured 92% of the leases needed at the storage site. The company added that the project is also supported by state lawmakers and emergency managers.
Close ties with the oil and gas industry
Oil and gas interests have donated nearly $8 million to Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, according to political money website Open Secrets.
Burgum, with his close ties to his state’s dominant industry, is the type of running mate who could help boost such donations.
If Burgum is not the Republican Party’s vice presidential nominee and does not get a job in a second Trump administration, he could return to North Dakota to finish out his final term while key decisions loom.
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Lardner reported from Washington.
