Republicans in Other States Are Having Second Thoughts About Carbon Capture Projects

 

February 16, 2026 - As Ohio Republican lawmakers are moving forward to pass carbon capture and sequestration bills, Republican lawmakers in other states are having second thoughts about such bills that might jeopardize private property rights and harm water sources.

Ohio House Bill 170 and Ohio Senate Bill 136 will allow the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) to assume primacy (primary control) from the U.S. EPA for permitting and monitoring carbon capture Class VI wells.

Carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) is a process where carbon dioxide is captured from industrial sources, converted into supercritical carbon dioxide (1070+ psi and 88 degrees Fahrenheit) and injected into Class VI injection wells.

The CO2 gas fills pore spaces located within underground formations.

A major concern with Ohio’s bills is that this legislation will allow the ODNR chief to force non-consenting property owners to surrender use of the “pore space” under their private property.

A storage operator who has obtained the consent of owners of at least 70% of the pore space proposed to be used in a storage facility may submit a statutory consolidation application for the operation of the entire proposed storage facility to the chief of the division of oil and gas resources management.

Lawmakers and citizens in other states where capture and sequestration is being proposed are now pushing back against the mandate to force private landowners into CCS pore space leases for corporate profits.

Louisiana House Speaker Pro Tempore Mike Johnson, R-Pineville, pre-filed three bills that he hopes will protect citizens property rights.

Louisiana House Bill 7, the Louisiana Landowners Protection Act, will “eliminate the use of eminent domain by private companies for carbon capture projects and CO2 pipelines.”

Louisiana House Bill 5 “would allow parishes and citizens to decide whether Class VI injection wells, CO2 sequestration, and related pipelines are permitted in their areas. Under this bill, a parish ordinance or a petition signed by 15 percent of voters would trigger a local election to ban a project.”

Finally, Louisiana House Bill 6 “specifically targets Rapides Parish and would grant that local governing authority the power to opt out of carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects.”

In Nebraska, state Sen. Glen Meyer (R) of Pender, introduced L.B. 916 which would prohibit eminent domain for acquiring right-of-way to build or operate carbon dioxide pipelines. It would also require operators of CCS projects to “obtain consent from all owners of reservoir estates within a proposed storage reservoir.”

After Indiana citizens expressed their concerns about the “safety, liability, and the potential for underground contamination” associated with CCS, state Sen. Rick Niemeyer, R-Lowell, sponsored SB 7 and state Sen. Spencer Deery, R – Vermillion, sponsored S.B. 260.

These bills were introduced into the 2026 session of Indiana. 

The bills would “increase local control over carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) projects by requiring approval from county officials.”

Sen. Deery said, “These projects impact the local communities, the local communities should have a say.”

North Dakota’s CCS law allows for forced taking of private property but in December of 2025, a landowners’ group challenged that law and won.

In the case of North Dakota Landowners Association, et al. v. North Dakota, et al., No. 05- 2023-CV-00065, Bottineau Co. N.D. Dist. Ct. (Dec. 2, 2025), the court ruled that a key provision of the North Dakota CO? Storage Law is unconstitutional.

Like the proposed law in Ohio, North Dakota’s law said that if 60% of the landowners agreed to the project, the other non-consenting owners would have to comply.

The court concluded that land owners have the rights to their pore space and that forcing carbon dioxide under their property was a “government authorized physical invasion” of the property and in effect an illegal “taking” of private property for the benefit of the carbon storage industry. 

In 2025, South Dakota Governor, Republican Larry Rhoden, signed a bill banning the use of eminent domain for carbon dioxide pipelines and sided with property-rights activists.

In January of this year, state Rep. Spencer Gosch, R-Glenham, introduced South Dakota House Joint Resolution 5001 which would strengthen the law passed last year, banning eminent domain for carbon capture pipeline projects.

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis called carbon sequestration “a scam”, expressing his dissatisfaction with the Florida House of Representatives for entertaining a proposal related to carbon sequestration.

Alabama GOP state Rep. Matthew Hammett has prefiled a bill, HB 61, that would prevent “persons from injecting and storing” CO2 and nonhazardous fluids in underground wells in Covington County where Reliant is planning a CCS project, Pine Hills Storage Hub.

Citizens’ concerns include potential impacts on local aquifers, forests, and property rights.

The states that have currently received primacy from the US Environmental Protection Agency for CCS projects are: West Virginia, North Dakota, Wyoming, Louisiana, and Arizona.

West Virginia’s law also allows for taking private land for pore storage.

Recently, West Virginia state Sen, Chris Rose, R Monongalia, introduced a bill, West Virginia Senate Bill 15, to change permit applications for carbon sequestration projects.

These changes address fears that plumes of injected carbon dioxide stored underground might interfere with the future development of valuable minerals and mandates carbon project developers notify landowners about project impacts and allow these landowners to express any objections. 

Republican lawmakers find themselves in an unusual position; agreeing with environmental groups like the Center for Biological Diversity and the Center for International Environmental Law when it comes to concerns over safety and, “CO2 pipeline leaks and underground pressure issues in areas that have already seen seismic activity tied to fracking wastewater injections.”

Feb. 22 will mark the six-year anniversary of the carbon dioxide pipeline explosion in the town of Satartia, Mississippi.

High-pressure carbon dioxide has an expansion factor of over 500 times the liquid quantity.

This means one liter of liquid CO2 expands to over 500 liters of gas.

The gaseous CO2 quickly moved through the rural community. Over 200 people were evacuated and at least 45 people were hospitalized.

Internal combustion vehicles stopped working, hampering the emergency responders.

People lay on the ground, shaking and unable to breathe. Some described it as being in a zombie movie. 

Given the current pushback for CCS projects, one has to wonder why Ohio’s lawmakers are in such a hurry to assume primacy, especially given that Ohio has no industrial facilities that are capturing CO2 are no CCS pipelines to transport the CO2 to proposed Class VI wells in Harrison, Carroll and Jefferson counties.

Additionally, as of Feb. 12, the Trump administration revoked the 2009 Endangerment Finding that classified carbon dioxide, methane and four other greenhouse gases as a threat to public health and welfare.

If carbon dioxide is no longer a threat, why are we worried about capturing emissions?