Staff, South Dakota Searchlight

A statewide advocacy group has launched a petition urging Republican Gov. Kristi Noem to reconsider her rejection of nearly $69 million in federal energy rebates for South Dakotans.

The national Home Energy Rebates program is funded with $9 billion from the Inflation Reduction Act. The program provides rebates for energy-efficient home retrofits and high-efficiency electric appliances.

South Dakota’s allocation is $68.56 million, but the state did not indicate its intent to participate before last month’s deadline. The state previously passed up $1.8 million to help set up and administer the program.

South Dakota is the only state not participating.

Jim Terwilliger, commissioner of the Bureau of Finance and Management, explained the Noem administration’s rationale during a July legislative budget committee meeting. He cited potential administrative burdens, limited staff and policy disagreements about federal spending.

“We just don’t believe that it’s the right thing for South Dakota,” Terwilliger said.

The petition urging Noem to change her mind on the energy program is from Dakota Rural Action, a grassroots organization focusing on family agriculture and conservation.

The group said it asked the U.S. Department of Energy if South Dakota could still participate. The department said the state could request a deadline extension, according to Dakota Rural Action.

“With every other state participating, it’s clear this is not just a ‘bad federal program,’” Dakota Rural Action said Friday in a news release. “If we don’t act, the money will go to other states, and South Dakotans will get nothing.”

The petition is open for signatures until Oct. 15 at dakotarural.org/heera.

A Sept. 24, 2024, map from the U.S. Department of Energy shows South Dakota as the only state not participating in the Home Energy Rebates program.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

A coalition of Christian clergy members announced support Tuesday for a ballot measure that would establish the right to an abortion in the South Dakota constitution.

The 35 faith leaders are from five Christian denominations — the United Methodist Church, the Presbyterian Church USA, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, the Episcopal Church and the United Church of Christ.

“Our pastoral care experiences have taught us that complicated health care decisions are best left to the patient in consultation with families and health care providers, and as part of faith conversations,” the group wrote. “This should happen without interference from politicians or the courts.”

Abortion ballot measure challenge on course for late September trial

On the other side of the debate, the South Dakota Catholic Conference has taken a stance against the ballot measure and is encouraging Catholics to vote no.

Voters will decide on the constitutional amendment in the Nov. 5 general election, with early and absentee voting beginning Friday.

After the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision that overturned Roe v. Wade, a trigger law that the South Dakota Legislature had adopted in 2005 immediately banned abortions in the state except when necessary to “preserve the life of the pregnant female.”

The proposed amendment would prohibit regulation of abortion during the first trimester. In the second trimester, abortions would be allowed if they are reasonably related to the pregnant woman’s physical health. During the third trimester, abortion could be regulated or prohibited, except when necessary to preserve the life or health of the woman, as determined by her physician’s medical judgment.

Meanwhile, a lawsuit from a group called Life Defense Fund that aims to invalidate the ballot measure is scheduled for trial next week. The group alleges various legal infractions by the petition circulators who gathered signatures to place the measure on the ballot.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and X.

South Dakota political leaders are condemning a Nazi demonstration that happened Saturday on the Capitol grounds in Pierre.

The state Department of Public Safety said in a news release that a group attempted an unscheduled protest on the Capitol grounds, without a permit. The Highway Patrol asked the group to leave and the march “ended without incident,” according to the news release.

Images and video circulated online of about a dozen people dressed in red and black, with black masks covering their faces, carrying a Nazi flag and unfurling it on the steps of the Capitol. Images also surfaced of a similar march in Deadwood.

White nationalist, anti-LGBTQ activity on the rise, annual hate report shows

On her personal X (formerly Twitter) account, Gov. Kristi Noem wrote, “Nazis are not welcome here in South Dakota.”

“We stand for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” she wrote. “We reject all hatred and Nazis.”

A known neo-Nazi leader, Christopher Pohlhaus, appeared to claim responsibility for the march when he shared Noem’s post on his own X account and said “we occupied your steps for the entire time we intended to be there.” According to the Anti-Defamation League, Pohlhaus is a former Marine turned tattoo artist and leader of the neo-Nazi “Blood Tribe.”

Other South Dakota political leaders also condemned the marches. U.S. Sen. Mike Rounds tweeted, “This is disgusting. This racist behavior has no place in South Dakota or anywhere.” U.S. Rep. Dusty Johnson tweeted of the incident, “This is atrocious.”

The activity is part of a resurgence of in-person demonstrations among white nationalist, neo-Nazi and far-right reactionary groups throughout the country, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s latest annual report on hate and extremism.

“For the first time since 2018, these racist activists, who together make up what is known as the white power movement, turned out in droves, holding 191 demonstrations in 2022 and 143 in 2023,” the report says.

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story has been updated with additional information several times since its initial publication.

South Dakota Searchlight is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. South Dakota Searchlight maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Seth Tupper for questions: info@southdakotasearchlight.com. Follow South Dakota Searchlight on Facebook and Twitter.