(Radio Iowa) – A key Republican legislator is ripping the Iowa Utilities Board decision to approve the Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline project. Representative Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton said the ruling sets a dangerous precedent. “The Utilities Board is dead wrong,” Kaufmann said during an interview with Radio Iowa. “They have failed miserably at their job and I’m going to file legislation to do their job for them.”

Kaufmann accused the board of capitulating to pressure from influential Republican donor Bruce Rastetter, who owns Summit Carbon Solutions. “I am stunned that Bruce Rastetter’s wallet has been found to be a public good,” Kaufmann said. “That to me is one of the worst rulings in the history of Iowa government.” The Iowa Utilities Board ruled the project’s public benefits outweigh the public and private costs.

Kaufmann said the board’s ruling is a signal the 300 mile Wolf pipeline is likely to be approved and it could lead to the “resurrection” of Navigator’s abandoned pipeline project. Kaufmann, along with a majority of Iowa House members, have passed legislation in previous years that would have set new requirements for the proposed pipeline, but those bills were never considered in the Iowa Senate.

Kaufmann predicts today’s Iowa Utilities Board decision will be a catalyst for action. “It was always a ‘What if? What if?’” Kaufmann said. “There’s no longer a ‘What if?’” Landowners who’ve opposed the project will speak at an online news conference later this afternoon.

The American Carbon Alliance issued a written statement this morning, commending the Iowa Utilities Board decision. The group’s CEO said the decision will be “transformative for the ag industry” by lowering or eliminating ethanol’s carbon footprint and, therefore, expanding ethanol’s use.