Burgum set to decide on massive pipeline project that’s pitting his rural constituents against GOP megadonors

North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum could play a deciding role in allowing a massive carbon dioxide pipeline project to seize property rights from rural landowners.

As Donald Trump is considering him for his vice-presidential pick, North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum could play a deciding role in allowing a massive carbon dioxide pipeline project – backed by GOP megadonors who have given to Burgum and Trump’s campaigns – to seize property rights from rural landowners in his state. Burgum’s vocal backing of the project so far is a sign of his transformation over the last decade, from a gubernatorial candidate who originally criticized the political influence of the energy industry, to one who’s used his close ties with oil executives, including a major investor in the pipeline project, to boost his vice-presidential prospects. Critics say the project could have a detrimental environmental impact in North Dakota, and a group of landowners have strongly resisted the company’s plans to build a pipeline across or store carbon dioxide under their property. That’s put political pressure on Burgum, who’s part of a three-member state committee set to vote this fall on a permit that would pave the way for the project to use a form of eminent domain power. “For a lot of people, land can be just an investment, but if you’re a farmer or a rancher and it’s your land, it is in your lifeblood,” Troy Coons, a farmer who leads an advocacy group for North Dakota landowners, told CNN. “It’s been very disheartening to see how our governor has not held true to what the promises were for the farming and ranching community” about protecting property rights. As governor, Burgum has tried to play both sides of climate policy. In 2021, he set an ambitious goal for North Dakota to be carbon neutral by 2030, and he signed a bill in 2017 to create North Dakota’s first Department of Environmental Quality. But as he’s stepped onto the national stage and ingratiated himself to Trump after dropping out of the Republican presidential primary, critics say Burgum has shifted to emphasize his support of oil. He has harshly criticized Biden administration climate regulations, and joined Trump for a fundraiser with oil executives at the former president’s Mar-a-Lago resort. Trump has praised him on the topic, saying at a rally that Burgum “probably knows more about energy than anybody I know.”