TransCanada Condemnation Goes to Court Tomorrow

Now it's really time for sweaty palms in Marshall County -- landowners get a hearing before a judge in Britton tomorrow on TransCanada's efforts to force them to give up land rights so Big Oil can make more money.

Why are landowners fighting TransCanada's push for eminent domain? See that Sioux Falls paper from yesterday for a firsthand account of TransCanada's strongarm tactics:

Lillian Anderson clearly remembers the day a land agent from TransCanada Keystone came to talk about running an oil pipeline under her property.

What he said that day has left her distrustful in her dealings with the company that proposes a line through eastern South Dakota if the state Public Utilities Commission grants a permit.

"He said, 'You know, you might as well sell now or get nothing,' " recalls Anderson, of Langford. "I said, 'That sounds like a threat.' He said, 'Oh, no, but TransCanada has deep pockets' " [Jill Callison, "Fair Dealings? Some Who Live Along Pipeline Say No," that Sioux Falls paper, 2008.01.13].

Anderson feels like she's getting no support from her elected officials:

"I feel like we've been sold for a few pieces of silver to the oil industry," Anderson said. "The governor, I feel, has abandoned the property owners of South Dakota for a few promises of taxes" [Callison].

Some things -- like our right to property, our national sovereignty, and our natural environment -- just aren't worth a few extra dollars. Another landowner, Ralph Marquardt, voices cupport for the pipeline, saying "I would much rather be supportive of this deal than buying oil from the Arabs." But is dealing with a land-thieving Canadian corporation really that much better than dealing with any of the petro-dictators of the Persian Gulf?

And no matter which member of the Big Oil club we deal with, we're still pursuing a policy of dependence and addiction. This continuing addiction to oil weakens our national security as well as our commitment to individual property rights. Home-grown energy and conservation will break this addiction and make our nation and our individual rights more secure.