To the Editor:

How many times have you said the Pledge of Allegiance? Probably hundreds or thousands of times, but did you ever consider the ending, “With liberty and justice for all”?

The CO2 pipeline proposed to cross South Dakota farmland threatens the very idea of “liberty and justice for all.” Why? Because South Dakota is letting CO2 pipeline surveyors show up on anyone’s farm, unannounced, move heavy equipment across fields, tearing up crops as they go, and then drill.

All this as a prelude to trenching across fields to install a liquid CO2 pipeline which will disrupt and freeze the soil around the pipe thereby reducing production all along the miles of pipeline - permanently.

What about the liberty of a farmer to do with his/her own land what he/she wants to do with it? How can we lose that liberty to multi-billion-dollar corporations so they make a buck and farmers foot a permanent reduction in production and in farm value?

Where is justice that allows teams of lawyers and hired guns to kick you off YOUR OWN property so they can profit? What happens to Second Amendment rights that keeps these folks safe? Why can’t landowners defend their land?

Stand your Ground? Not in South Dakota. Not even if you are standing on your own ground!

These CO2 pipelines are a scheme to pump U.S. taxpayer cash into the pockets of out-of-staters and foreign owners. There is no benefit to South Dakota, but the burden is shouldered by South Dakota farmers.

Meanwhile, there is not a whisper from most Republicans, Democrats, or our Governor. Perhaps the hundred or so farms and farmers aren’t a big enough constituency for the Governor or elected officials to care about.

Liberty and justice for all? Not for South Dakota farmers and their families...or future generations.

Jeff Barth
Sioux Falls