News from rural America.

Illinois farmers and landowners are pushing back against the use of eminent domain for private carbon pipelines, Nebraskans say climate change is affecting their mental health, Utah parents can't find childcare and its rhubarb season across the rural Midwest.

TRANSCRIPT

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, this is the news from rural America.

A Texas company has shelved plans for carbon capture pipelines through Illinois farmland.

To seize desired property, Navigator Ventures plan to use eminent domain, typically reserved for governments to build roads or electrical lines after paying a fair value.

Steve Hess co-founded the Coalition to Stop CO2 Pipelines.

He says acquisition of the land, homesteaded by his wife's family since 1869, came up when a company representative paid a call.

The very first visit I had from a land agent, I said, what can I do to negotiate this offer?

He says, not really too much.

He says, if we get approval and you don't like it, we can just use eminent domain and put the pipe in anyhow.

Liquified CO2 is piped underground to mitigate global warming.

But a bill sponsored by Illinois State Senator Steve McClure would prevent future pipelines from using eminent domain.

You shouldn't be able to make the argument that a for-profit company should be able to use somebody else's farmland to build a pipeline for-profit that could potentially cause health issues or environmental issues.

Climate change is straining mental health in places like Nebraska.

Midwestern clinical psychologist Derek Seabry studies the impact of social and environmental injustice there.

He says people struggle to seek treatment, especially when extreme weather events hit low-income residents with limited resources.

I think a big thing is the importance of creating more sustainable and justice-oriented solutions for instance, housing insecurity or food insecurity.

Finding care or counseling can be tough in Nebraska, where all but five of the state's 93 counties are designated as mental health deserts.

Farther west, Utah has a child care shortage.

Not enough licensed providers for kids under age five.

Providers only meet about a third of the need, even less in rural areas.

Casey Peaks, with the Center for American Progress, says that stark urban-rural divide means if policymakers just focus on affordability, they won't fix the problem.

You could make child care free for every family living in a rural community tomorrow, but that's not going to solve access.

We need to bring down the costs for families, but we also need to think about supply solutions.

Each year, the child care shortage costs Utah about $1.3 billion in lost wages and productivity.

During the recent session, lawmakers passed legislation to address the problem.

Rhubarb is technically a vegetable, but don't tell folks going to Aledo, Illinois for the Rhubarb Fest June 5th.

Up to 20,000 people descend on the rural town each year for rhubarb pie, ice cream, lemonade, and more.

Festival organizer Annette Speer says rhubarb is a hot commodity.

A lot of people won't tell you where their patches are because they don't want anybody going in and taking them, which has happened.

For the Daily Yonder and Public News Service, I'm Roz Brown.

For more rural stories, visit dailyyonder.com.