On Tuesday, in his annual letter to shareholders, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said it was his belief that in order to advance some clean energy initiatives, government authorities would need to seize private property from individuals.
Dimon emphasized that due to the importance of advancing green initiatives such as solar farms, wind generation, and other environmental programs, the government should not allow individuals to use property rights to slow the advance of such projects, but rather should use eminent domain to seize property so those projects can be developed quickly and without delays.
In the letter, he wrote, “At the same time, permitting reforms are desperately needed to allow investment to be done in any kind of timely way. We may even need to evoke [sic] eminent domain – we simply are not getting the adequate investments fast enough for grid, solar, wind and pipeline initiatives.”
Under eminent domain, the government can seize private property for use to advance the public good, provided the owner is compensated fairly.
Dimon went on, “Massive global investment in clean energy in technologies must be done and must continue to grow year-over-year. To expedite progress, governments, businesses and non-governmental organizations need to align across a series of practical policy changes that comprehensively address fundamental issues that are holding us back.”
Dimon released the letter weeks after a bill was passed by the Iowa State House which would put limits on the use of eminent domain by pipeline companies. The bill forces pipeline companies to first acquire 90% of the land they would require for a project through voluntary deals with landowners before they could employ eminent domain to acquire the remainder of the land.
The Des Moines Register reported that according to Democratic state Rep. Steven Holt, the bill was a reinforcement of private property rights
Holt was quoted as saying, “Regardless of the economic gain or the benefit to certain industries or groups of people, this fundamental liberty must not be for sale. If these pipeline projects are essential to ethanol and agriculture, let them be built through voluntary easements and not by allowing the blunt force of government to be used to shatter this fundamental birthright we all share as Americans.”
