[This election is full of existential choices from President to
crucial races for the Senate and House. There are also a number of
important state and local ballot initiatives and referendums that will
influence our ability to preserve the biosphere. ]
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THE MOST IMPORTANT CLIMATE BALLOT INITIATIVES TO WATCH ON ELECTION
DAY  
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Dharna Noor
October 24, 2020
Earther/Gizmodo
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_ This election is full of existential choices from President to
crucial races for the Senate and House. There are also a number of
important state and local ballot initiatives and referendums that will
influence our ability to preserve the biosphere. _

Rideshare Drivers United caravanned from San Diego to Uber’s San
Francisco headquarters to protest Proposition 22, the California
ballot initiative termed “a blatant corporate power grab at the
expense of workers and the planet,” by Greenpeace., D. Russell,
Rideshare Drivers United

 

The presidential race may be sucking up all the climate oxygen at the
national level, but it’s far from the only place climate is on the
ballot. This election is full of existential choices down the ballot,
with tons of crucial Senate, House, and local fights, too. 

There are also a number of ballot initiatives and referendums in
the 26 states that allow them
[[link removed]] focused
on climate and preserving the biosphere. Here are some of the most
exciting ones that we’ll be tracking. They include everything from
the fate of wolves to gig workers to taxes on oil and gas companies.
Even cities are getting in on the action, showing how climate is a
local issue, too. What times them together is they all matter for
the future of our planet.

MORE PARKS—BUT ALSO MORE OIL

Michigan voters will get to chime in on Proposal 1
[[link removed](2020)],
a measure that’s aimed at expanding and restructuring the state’s
conservation and land trust fund. More money for parks and protected
areas is good! But here’s the weird thing: The money would come from
the fossil fuel industry.

If passed, this measure would allow Michigan’s Parks Endowment Fund
to sell off oil and gas leases on public lands and put that money into
the State Parks Endowment Fund fund until its balance reaches $800
million. That fund could be used to maintain existing parks and buy
more land to create new ones. After that fund is full, any additional
oil and gas money would go into a Natural Resources Trust Fund, which
is also used for natural resources protection and recreation. 

I’m all for parks and public lands, but this measure feels a bit
like the national Great American Outdoors Act
[[link removed]] passed
by Congress earlier this year, which relies on similar funding
mechanisms for conservation. I’m nervous that policies like this
just incentivize more and more leases to extractive firms.

RENEWABLES—BUT NOT ENOUGH

Question 6
[[link removed](2020)] is
on the ballot in Nevada. It would require the state’s utilities to
get 50% of their electricity from renewable sources by 2030. The state
actually passed the same measure in 2018, but—no
joke—Nevada requires
[[link removed]] that amendments
get passed in two election cycles. Nevada’s current renewable energy
standard only requires 25% of electricity come from clean power, so
this would be a relatively big improvement. But let’s be real: 50%
by 2030 isn’t a fast enough transition according to reams of
research. 

BRINGING WOLVES BACK 

Colorado voters could vote to bring back the wolves. If Proposition
114
[[link removed]] passes,
the state’s Parks and Wildlife Commission would be required to make
a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolf populations
[[link removed]] in
the mountainous areas west of the continental divide. The region has
been largely wolf-free since the 1940s after a campaign by ranchers
and their allies in government to eradicate them
[[link removed]] to
protect livestock. Doing so also threw ecosystems out of whack,
though. There have been other examples of wolf reintroduction, most
notably in Yellowstone National Park
[[link removed]] 25
years ago. That program has been wildly successful in restoring
ecosystems.

MAKING POLLUTERS PAY

The ballot measure I might be most anxiously awaiting is
California’s Proposition 15
[[link removed]].
This initiative would close a loophole made possible by another state
ballot measure: 1978’s Proposition 13. The new proposition would
force the owners of commercial and industrial properties—including
fossil fuel producers—to start paying their taxes based on the
current market value of those properties, not the price at which they
purchased them in decades long passed. That would mean the state would
have more cash for schools, wildfire safety initiatives, and other
public services, while issuing a big blow to polluting industries like
fossil fuel producers. Oil and gas companies are among the biggest
forces
[[link removed]] lobbying
against this measure because they could stand to lose out on a lot of
money if it passes.

“Companies like Chevron, Exxon, Phillips 66, Shell, and Tosco are
paying taxes based on assessments taken prior to 2000,” the National
Resources Defense Council, which supports the measure, said in a
statement. “Prop. 15 would end this hidden subsidy to dirty
energy.” 

Absurdly, though, a key point that these corporate naysayers are
making in their opposition to it
[[link removed]] is
that it would come at a big expense to renewable energy firms (don’t
worry, that’s not the case
[[link removed]] according
to solar experts).

Oil Production Tax

Alaska’s looking to raid polluters’ overstuffed pockets,
too. Ballot Measure 1
[[link removed](2020)] would
implement a fuel production tax aimed at producers in the state’s
North Slope oilfields. Right now, those producers pay some $400
million a year
[[link removed]],
but if this measure succeeds, their annual taxes will increase by
about $1 billion.

Oil extraction in the North Slope puts Indigenous communities
[[link removed]] at
risk and threatens polar bears
[[link removed]] and
other wildlife, too. It also, of course, heats up the climate. Despite
a global fuel economy crash, business there is booming
[[link removed]],
but this measure could change that. Here’s hoping it passes—and
that when it does, oil workers
[[link removed]] aren’t
forced to bear the brunt of the hit. 

CHANGING A UTILITY COMMISSION

New Mexico voters are considering a state constitutional amendment.
If Amendment 1
[[link removed](2020)] passes,
it will restructure the state’s public utility commission. Right
now, the group is made up of five independently elected commissioners.
But if this measure passes, the commission will shrink to three
members who are all appointed by the governor. 

On first read, I thought this seemed wildly undemocratic. But then I
realized that the state’s commission is led by politicians, not
environmental experts. Supporters
[[link removed]] of
the measure say that New Mexico is unlikely to meet its 100% clean
energy target under its current system because the commissioners’
elections are so often riddled with corporate money. Under the new
system, a bipartisan nominating committee, which would include at
least one representative from a local Indigenous group, would come up
with a list of environmental experts from the state, and the governor
could choose which ones to appoint. The idea is that this could ensure
that commissioners aren’t acting on special interests. If you live
in New Mexico, please tell me what you think of this one.

A TAX LOOPHOLE FOR BIG OIL

This one really, really sucks. In Louisiana, Amendment 5
[[link removed](2020)] could
exempt the fossil fuel industry from having to pay property taxes.
Forever. This fucked up initiative would amend the state constitution
to let local governments start “a cooperative endeavor agreement”
with companies, allowing those companies to stop paying taxes and
instead make comparatively small payments to the government.

The main lobbying force behind this measure is Cameron, a liquified
natural gas firm. Last year, based on a payment in lieu of taxes
agreement, the company paid just $38,000
[[link removed]] in
taxes. But if it had to pay their full taxes, it would have paid $220
million. The company’s agreement is now expiring, so it’s fighting
to make it—and other agreements like it—last forever. If the
measure passes, it could incentivize even more extractive industry
activity in already very polluted parts of the state, like Cameron
Parish, which saw a dangerous petrochemical leak
[[link removed]] when
hurricanes roared through earlier this year.

“The petrochemical and natural gas industry...want to get out of
paying their property taxes,” Anne Rolfes, director of the Louisiana
Bucket Brigade, said. “They want this amendment so that they can pay
little or nothing to the state while they run away with the money”

Louisiana folks, y’all know what to do!

THE GIG ECONOMY

In California, the wretched Proposition 22
[[link removed](2020)] would
consider drivers with app-based companies like Uber, Lyft, and
DoorDash to be independent contractors and not employees. Those
companies really want this to pass— Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash
collectively spent more than $181 million
[[link removed]] lobbying
for it.

The measure has gotten a lot of attention for its negative impact
[[link removed]] on
workers’ ability to organize and receive benefits. But it would also
be a climate atrocity, since it’s would likely result in more cars
on the road if passed. Research shows gig economy driving increases
congestion
[[link removed]],
and one study
[[link removed]] even found that
Uber and Lyft were responsible for about half of the rise in
congestion in San Francisco between 2010 and 2016. All that pollution
is a big environmental health problem, and also a problem for the
climate. In fact, one study
[[link removed]] found
that ride-hailing apps’ car trips result in 69% more greenhouse gas
pollution than the average car trips they displace. The same
analysis also found that access to the apps discourages low-carbon
modes of transit like walking and biking.

“Prop 22 is a blatant corporate power grab at the expense of workers
and the planet,” Ryan Schleeter, senior communications specialist
for Greenpeace USA, said. 

Local Measures

Even further down the ballot, voters in cities and counties across the
U.S. will vote on local environmental initiatives. While citywide
measures may seem like a small solution to the global issue of the
climate crisis, they can make a big difference in shifting public
opinion
[[link removed]] on
what kinds of policies are possible at state and federal levels,
encouraging people to think bigger. Plus, some of these initiatives
could raise money for climate adaptation and lower people’s energy
bills. Sounds like environmental justice to me.

COMMUNITY CHOICE AGGREGATION

With Columbus, Ohio’s Issue 1
[[link removed]],
voters have the opportunity to start a citywide community choice
aggregation program, giving officials the right to purchase energy in
bulk from local renewable sources. This would allow Columbus to meet
its goal
[[link removed]] of
powering all homes and businesses with renewable energy by 2022. Nice
timeline, folks! 

Another city, East Brunswick, New Jersey, is also considering Measure
4
[[link removed]], a
ballot initiative to create a community choice aggregation program,
too. Its timeline is a little less ambitious; if approved, residents
and businesses would have access to 100% clean, renewable electricity
by the year 2030. But that’s still pretty good and in line with the
best available science.

CLIMATE ACTION FUNDS

Denver as well as three California cities—Berkeley, Long Beach, and
Albany—are all considering ballot measures to create climate action
funds. All four of these cities have made climate plans and pledges,
but these funds would allocate the funding so the city could actually
pay for the projects necessary to meet those goals. 

This looks a little different in each place. Berkeley’s Measure HH
[[link removed]] would
fill its fund by raising utility taxes, except on low-income families,
who would no longer have to pay those taxes at all. Albany’s
Measure DD
[[link removed](November_2020)] would
work similarly. The Long Beach proposal, Measure US
[[link removed]], would up taxes
local oil production (hell yeah). And Denver’s Measure 2A
[[link removed](November_2020)] would
work by raising the local sales tax by .25%. That tiny increase would
raise $36 million annually. These funds could all be used to fund
clean energy and climate adaptation projects.

A FAKE GREEN DEAL

Boulder has a pair of initiatives on the ballot this year, 2C
[[link removed]] and 2D
[[link removed](November_2020)],
that would enter the city into a 20-year franchise agreement with Xcel
Energy, a utility company that gets more than half of its energy
[[link removed]] from
fossil fuels. That’s a big deal because right now, Boulder has a
goal of reaching 100% renewable energy by 2030, while the company only
plans to get there by 2050. Ballot issue 2C would also force the city
to abandon its decade-long effort to municipalize its utilities, a
move that would make it easier to push the clean energy shift.
Corporate lobbyists for 2C and 2D say they would bring Boulder a
“Great Green Deal [[link removed]],” but that
seems like bullshit to me. 

CRUISES

Three referendums in Key West, Florida—1.09, 1.10, and 1.11
[[link removed]]—could place new
regulations on the cruise industry. The first would cap the number of
passengers on any individual cruise ships to a total of 1,500 people
per day, the second would prohibit any single trip on a ship to have
more than 1,300 passengers, and the third would give priority to
cruise lines with the best environmental and health records. 

Analysts
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that in combination, these measures could eliminate 95% of the island
city’s ship traffic, taking a ton of environmental pollution with
it. Y’all know how I feel about cruises
[[link removed]].

[_Dharna Noor [[link removed]] is a
staff writer for Earther_]

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