The American Petroleum Institute released the following statement from Mike Karbo, Regional Director, encouraging Governor Reynold to veto HF639 due its sweeping impact to the natural gas industry.
“The anti-infrastructure bill known as HF639 currently sitting on Governor Reynolds desk threatens all future oil and natural gas projects in the state. While anti-pipeline groups would like you to believe this bill is about one project, it’s simply not true. This bill could derail oil and natural gas infrastructure project expansion across the state, threatening Iowans’ ability to continue to safely receive affordable and reliable energy.
There are more than 42,000 miles of oil and natural gas pipelines running through the state. Over 117,000 Iowans are employed directly or indirectly in the oil and natural gas industry and support nearly $10 billion in economic activity. However, since there are no refineries in the state, critical energy infrastructure, such as pipelines, are crucial in ensuring Iowans have a reliable source of energy, and certainty is needed to develop the infrastructure network. Under this bill, the harsh regulation opens any expansion of oil or natural gas infrastructure to objectors not impacted by the project, and it imposes unprecedented and unfeasible insurance mandates on pipeline developers.
We encourage the Governor to do what is right for the future of development in the state and veto this bill.”
