Iowa House approves bill preventing greenhouse gas emission lawsuits

Lawsuits claiming that greenhouse gas emissions from an agricultural operation impacted the climate would be prohibited under a bill passed Thursday by the Iowa House.

Supporters of the bill, which passed with a vote of 66-24, said the bill protects against “frivolous” climate lawsuits, while opponents of the bill worried the language was too broad and would limit Iowans’ abilities to seek damages.

House File 2527 would limit farmers’ and ranchers’ liability in cases alleging an “actual or potential” effect on the climate caused “wholly or partly” by greenhouse gas emissions.

Rep. Derek Wulf, R-Hudson, introduced the bill and said on the floor that the “ag friendly bill” allows farmers to “continue to do what they do best, and that’s farm and ranch.”

Rep. J.D. Scholten, D-Sioux City, introduced an amendment to the bill to exempt lawsuits related to nuisances or weather-related damages that could be tied to climate change.

Scholten said the amendment clarified some of the “broad language” of the bill. He argued that without the amendment, a neighbor “suffering real tangible harm” like a farmer with damaged drainage, decreased property value or a polluted well, could be unable to seek damages in an Iowa court.

Scholten also took issue with the section of the bill that protects from lawsuits that are “wholly or partly” attributed to greenhouse gas emissions. This language, he argued, could be applied more broadly and allow a defendant to “escape liability entirely” for something like a “straightforward” weather damage claim, especially, as he argued it’s not uncommon for severe weather events to be partly attributed to climate change.

Scholten said his amendment was a means of protecting private property rights, which he said is something “this chamber has spent considerable time and energy” fighting for as it relates to carbon capture pipelines.

“We cannot tell Iowans in one breath that property rights are sacred against the pipeline and in the next breath, take away their right to defend those same properties in court against a neighbor or an insurance company,” Scholten said.

Wulf said the bill’s intent was not to affect nuisance claims, nor to protect bad actors. He urged a no vote on the amendment, which was defeated.

Rep. Megan Srinivas, D-Des Moines, who served on a subcommittee for the bill in its earlier form as House File 693, reiterated Scholten’s concerns on the bill and said it would open up “liability immunity for all bad actors.”

Wulf said the “right for rumination for cow bill” was about protecting farmers and ranchers who have been put “in the crosshairs” by “green new deal policies.”

The House voted in favor of the bill and also adopted an amendment from Wulf that added “petroleum source” to the list of greenhouse gas emissions described in the bill.

The House also passed, unanimously, House File 2596 to update language for Iowa’s grain indemnity program.

This program, which was revamped in 2025, helps farmers get paid for sold grain when their buyers go bankrupt.

Rep. Chad Behn, R-Boone, said HF 2596 “corrects a mistake” from the 2025 enacted law that required an “expensive audit” for small grain elevators that do not make credit sale contracts.

The inclusion of credit sale contracts — when a seller has sold and delivered the grain but will receive payment at a later date — was a source of conflict among lawmakers as they updated the grain indemnity program. Credit sale contracts were included in the final version of the bill signed by the governor.

Behn said the need for the new bill was brought forward by a handful of grain elevators affected by language in the 2025 law that required these audits.

Scholten spoke in favor of HF 2596 Thursday and said it was an “extension” of the work that has gone into updating the program over the past several years.

Both bills were sent to the Senate.