The 217 Today Podcast

217 Today: Farmers, environmentalists oppose carbon dioxide pipeline proposals

Owen Henderson and Sydney Wood
 
Jeff Reints stands near an ethanol plant in Shell Rock, Iowa, near his farm. While most of his corn goes to the POET Bioprocessing ethanol plant, he's opposed to a pipeline that would carry CO2 away from the plant and under his fields.

Jeff Reints stands near an ethanol plant in Shell Rock, Iowa, near his farm. While most of his corn goes to the POET Bioprocessing ethanol plant, he's opposed to a pipeline that would carry CO2 away from the plant and under his fields. "It is a little awkward," Reints said of supporting ethanol while opposing the pipelines. "But you have to stand for something." Lucius Pham / Iowa Public Radio

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Tuesday, April 18, 2023

Today's headlines:

  • University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign Chancellor Robert Jones is condemning dozens of racist messages sent to a Black student group. 
  • A pop-up shop in Champaign is offering free dresses and other formal wear for prom season.
  • In 2022, there were 32 indicated child deaths from abuse and neglect in central Illinois.
  • 2023 has already been an active year for tornadoes, with multiple outbreaks across the Midwest and South at the end of March.

In today's deep dive, we'll hear how proposals to capture and store carbon dioxide underground in the Midwest have created some unusual alliances between farmers and environmentalists.

217 Today is produced by Sydney Wood. Reporting today contributed by Reginald Hardwick, Luis Velazquez, Mae Antar, Eric Schmid, and Katie Peikes.