Ballot

A complaint has been filed in an Oregon court alleging Secretary of State Bev Clarno abused her power and lacked legal reasoning in rejecting two proposed ballot measures aimed at encouraging the state to use electricity from carbon-free sources and renewable sources for all retail electricity by 2045.

Alaska Lt. Gov. Kevin Meyer certified a ballot initiative last week that would end certain tax credits for oil and natural gas production in the state’s most prolific regions, and effectively increase tax rates.

A Colorado oil and natural gas industry-backed initiative has made the November ballot that, if enacted, would allow financial claims to be made on private property devalued by government action.

Colorado Rising, a coalition of environmental organizations, said a statewide ballot initiative has qualified for the November election, which, if it were to pass, would increase setback requirements to 2,500 feet from 500 feet for new oil and natural gas drilling.

A new study in Colorado predicts catastrophic crippling of the oil and natural gas industry if a proposed ballot measure to lengthen the setback requirement for new drill sites to 2,500 feet from 500 feet is passed in November.

A local ballot measure in Coos County, OR, intended to block a long-proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) project was rejected on Tuesday by voters amidst heavy spending by project backers and concerns that the “sustainable energy” measure was unconstitutional. More than 75% of the votes cast were against the proposal.

Voters in Washington state on Tuesday rejected a statewide ballot measure to create a carbon tax, with 58% of the votes casts going against Initiative 732, which would have imposed a tax on fossil fuels.

Rather than quibble about valid signatures for two anti-oil/natural gas measures (Initiatives 75 and 78) they were unsuccessful in getting on the Colorado statewide ballot this November, activist groups have turned their attention to opposing a measure that made it to the ballot (Initiative 71) seeking to limit state constitutional amendments through the ballot measure process.

The majority of Colorado’s anti-oil and natural gas activism is driven from outside of the state and is concentrated in the Denver metropolitan area, along with two nearby counties, Boulder and Larimer, according to an analysis completed by pro-energy industry group Protecting Colorado’s Economy, Environment and Energy Independence (Protect Colorado).