Pipeline Opponents Get No Break from Pierre

We're still waiting for any sign that Pierre will act in support of the South Dakota landowners who face eminent domain at the hands of land-grabbing foreign oil corporation TransCanada. The Public Utilities Commission had a chance to cut the landowners a break by moving the scheduled hearings on the Keystone pipeline from Pierre to Huron to be closer to the affected landowners. Instead, the PUC voted unanimously this morning to keep the December hearings in Pierre [AP, "PUC: Pipeline Hearings to Stay in Pierre," KELOLand.com, 2007.11.06].

Landowners like Jerauld Glanzer of Bridgewater asked the PUC to move the hearing so they could attend in person. Glanzer said he can't make the four hour trip to Pierre because he milks cows twice a day (cows that drink from a creek the pipeline will cut across). Michael and Susan Sibson of rural Howard filed a similar request with the PUC and surely had the support of numerous landowners who want to look the commissioners in the eye and make their case but can't afford to take the day off work to attend (and $3.00/gallon gas doesn't help).

PUC Commissioner Dusty Johnson, perhaps the only state official who has dared (or been permitted by the governor?) to say anything relating to the TransCanada land grab, was giving cause for optimism yesterday. Sounding like man of the people, he said yesterday that making the proceedings "as accessible as possible" was his goal [paraphrase from Jeff Martin, "PUC to Hear Oil Pipeline Queries Today," that Sioux Falls paper, 2007.11.06]. "It's less common, but not unprecedented for us to have a formal hearing outside the Capitol," Johnson said [direct quote from Martin], citing an example from a few years ago when the PUC met formally in Huron to discuss electricity issues with the Dakota Turkey Growers.

Evidently, though, Pierre's slogan remains technology über alles. As AP reports, "Commissioners explained that technology, including telephone hookups and the Internet, allows people to follow the hearings and provide input without being present." Right... assuming you have a good broadband Internet connection out on the farm (and that's far from a given).

Thanks to the PUC's faith in technology, dozens of landowners who still think being seen and heard in person is important will have to drive three to five hours to participate fully in the meeting. Meanwhile, TransCanada's South Dakota mouthpiece, Pierre lawyer Brett Koenecke, can walk 15 minutes from his office to the hearing. Nice.

This shouldn't have been a hard call. Dusty, Gary, and Steve could have gotten some easy good press by accommodating the landowners (who still would have had a fair-sized drive to Huron). And what's the difference to TransCanada? Oil's over $90 a barrel -- they have money to burn.

Lest my point not be clear: the PUC has blown a chance to promote open government and show some respect for South Dakota citizens. These landowners are already facing legal fees and a scary battle against a giant corporation that has no respect for our neighbors' land and the work and history and love they've put into that land. They ask Pierre for one little break to make their fight easier, and Pierre says no.

Is there no one in Pierre who will stand up for South Dakotans' rights on this issue? If not, maybe 2008 is high time for some wholesale housecleaning. Incumbents, beware: speak up and serve the people or get out.