OLYMPIA — Environmental issues will be a centerpiece of Washingtonians’ ballots this fall, now that an initiative to protect the use of natural gas and to unravel recently passed energy regulations and laws has qualified for the ballot.
Initiative 2066 would roll back portions of a law meant to help Puget Sound Energy, the state’s largest utility, chart a transition from natural gas, and it would threaten energy-efficiency mandates that effectively require heat pumps to be installed in lieu of fossil-fueled appliances.
There will now be four potential repeals or dramatic changes to state policies on the ballot in November, including Initiative 2117, which would repeal the state’s cap and trade system limiting carbon emissions.
Voters will also weigh in on whether to keep the state’s capital gains tax and whether to make a tax that funds the state’s long-term care program optional. These hefty issues will go before voters in what is already significant election year, with an open race for governor and a recently transformed presidential contest.
After a rapid petition effort that garnered more than 500,000 signatures in support of putting the natural gas initiative on the ballot in less than two months, the measure’s qualification now kicks the campaign into gear.
The initiative is supported by the state’s building industry, which says it will mount an aggressive campaign to get voters on its side.
Environmental organizations have criticized the initiative as misleading and said Wednesday it could increase costs to consumers.
Washington has not outright banned natural gas, but initiative supporters, including members of Washington’s hospitality industry, say they want to protect the consumer’s choice to use natural gas, which is mostly methane, as the Legislature pushes utilities and ratepayers to electrify. Natural gas, initiative supporters say, is cheap and reliable and the current electricity grid is not prepared for increased use.
“Now voters have the chance to protect their natural gas and avoid costly conversions to all-electric by voting Yes on I-2066 in November,” said Greg Lane, executive vice president of the Building Industry Association of Washington.
“People are tired of having Olympia decide what’s best for them and the hundreds of thousands of signatures prove that they are ready to take action,” said Brian Heywood, founder of Let’s Go Washington, a group that has thrown its weight behind the measure and is backing the three other initiatives on the ballot this fall.
Opponents of the initiative struck back Wednesday, calling Initiative 2066 a “wrecking ball” to the state’s ability to transition to clean energy, and said it would limit access to “state-of-the-art heating and cooling equipment that will save money as energy costs increase.”
Caitlin Krenn, climate and clean energy director at Washington Conservation Action, said the initiative was “a broad attack on energy efficiency and clean energy programs that will ensure special interests continue to profit off our communities for decades to come.”
“This is a massive overreach by those who want to undo clean energy progress in our state,” she said. “Anyone who wants healthy communities and affordable clean energy should vote no.”
Recent polling conducted on behalf of The Seattle Times in partnership with KING 5 and the University of Washington’s Center for an Informed Public suggests that voters could pass the initiative. Among 708 likely voters, 54% said they were certain to vote for it, and 21% said they were certain to vote against it. A quarter were uncertain.
Opponents of the initiatives have criticized the polling and say the exact ballot title must be used to accurately reflect voter sentiment.
