This commentary was written by Autumn Hanna of Taxpayers for Common Sense and Rick Bonander of Dakota Rural Action for South Dakota Searchlight, an online news organization.

Across the Northern Great Plains, opposition to carbon capture projects is growing — nowhere more so than in South Dakota, where lawmakers recently blocked carbon capture companies from using eminent domain. The backlash to these projects is driven by concerns about the impact on farmers and ranchers, public safety, private property rights, and the billions in taxpayer dollars being funneled into unproven technology.

Let’s be clear: oil and gas and ethanol companies want to use public subsidies to bury millions of tons of pollution underground — threatening South Dakota’s land, water and communities. To protect our communities and prevent waste, fraud and abuse of taxpayer funds, we deserve better than carbon capture schemes.

That’s why one of us is working to protect taxpayers from wasting billions on subsidies for a technology that has never been proven to deliver net reductions in carbon emissions.

In fact, it may actually result in public health and safety liabilities for nearby communities. The other is organizing to defend rural communities from the false promises and harmful impacts of carbon capture and storage. We agree: Carbon capture and storage should not be propped up at the expense of federal taxpayers and South Dakotans.

In recent years, we’ve watched Summit Carbon Solutions try to win support for a multi-state carbon dioxide pipeline — and when that failed, attempt to force it through using eminent domain. That’s a process meant for public benefit, not private industry. After the Legislature blocked carbon capture companies from using it, the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission required Summit to reapply for a permit — another major setback for the company’s risky proposal.

At Dakota Rural Action, we organize people, build leadership, and foster partnerships that protect our environmental resources and strengthen our communities. We advocate for resilient agriculture, clean air and water, and energy systems that work for all South Dakotans — now and for generations to come.

At Taxpayers for Common Sense, we advocate for a federal government that uses resources wisely and serves the people, not special interests. Our research shows that tens of billions in taxpayer dollars have already gone to grants, loans and tax credits for carbon capture — often with little to show for it.

After more than a decade and billions spent, carbon capture has consistently failed to deliver any meaningful emissions reduction. In 2023, U.S. CCS facilities captured just 22 million tons of CO2 annually — only about 0.4% of national emissions. Not only is CCS ineffective at capturing emissions at scale, CCS projects also expand oil and gas infrastructure, prolonging oil and gas dependence — often at the risk of private property rights, as CCS pipeline infrastructure grows. CCS also poses significant threats to local communities, as the transportation and storage of carbon risk poisoning the air and groundwater.

What’s more, carbon capture technology remains prohibitively expensive and is unlikely to be deployed at scale without breaking the bank for taxpayers. Independent analyses confirm what we’ve seen time and again: major carbon capture projects routinely fail or fall short — due to cost overruns, delays and inability to secure private investment. Instead, projects must rely on federal handouts at taxpayers’ expense, often without producing any benefits.

As the federal government continues to pour funding into carbon capture technology, its programs have been subject to mismanagement, waste and fraud. For example, in an analysis of 11 carbon capture projects funded by the Department of Energy — awarded a combined $1.1 billion — the Government Accountability Office found that three were actually completed, partially due to the lack of economic viability of coal CCS projects but also due to DOE’s own mismanagement. The carbon capture tax credit, known as 45Q, also has a history of abuse. In 2020, the Treasury Department’s inspector general reported that $894 million worth of the credits were claimed without complying with reporting requirements.

The oil and gas industry supports carbon capture because it protects their profits. And throughout the Midwest, they have partnered with the ethanol industry to tap into a steady and, thanks to taxpayer-backed subsidies, profitable source of carbon emissions. Not only can companies benefit from the lucrative 45Q tax credit for every ton of carbon they produce and then capture, they can use the captured carbon to extract more oil and generate more revenue, by injecting the carbon into depleted reservoirs to stimulate more production.

Despite this track record, out-of-state corporations have secured even more federal support. With the help of aggressive lobbying, they won billions in new subsidies and expanded tax breaks, then moved to push projects into South Dakota communities, prioritizing profits over people.

Despite a well-documented history of tax fraud and project failures, Congress continued to expand CCS in recent years, providing over $12 billion for research and demonstration projects and expanding the 45Q tax credit, which is now expected to cost taxpayers over $36 billion over the next decade.

The reality is simple: Carbon capture has become a conduit for shifting public dollars into corporate bank accounts with no real results to show for it.

South Dakotans deserve better. Real clean energy solutions start with protecting what already works — our native prairies — and not schemes that waste public resources.