A Sioux Falls resident votes in the city and school board election at Southern Hills United Methodist Church on April 9, 2024. (Makenzie Huber/South Dakota Searchlight)
A cooperative that owns four ethanol plants has made a second $400,000 contribution to support a Nov. 5 ballot question about carbon dioxide pipelines.
Glacial Lakes Energy owns plants in Watertown, Mina, Aberdeen and Huron. The money went to the Vote Yes for a Strong South Dakota ballot question committee, which supports Referred Law 21 .
The cooperative has now contributed a total of $800,000 to the campaign. Its latest $400,000 contribution came Friday, according to a supplemental campaign finance report. An earlier report disclosed a previous $400,000 contribution.
There are no limits on contributions to ballot question committees in South Dakota.
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Referred Law 21 is a response to controversial plans by Iowa-based Summit Carbon Solutions to capture some of the carbon dioxide emitted by Midwest ethanol plants — including in eastern South Dakota — and transport it via pipeline to North Dakota for underground storage.