So it looks like I-937 will be law in WA, forcing all the big energy producers have to move to 15% renewable energy by 2020.
Well, actually, no. I lied. Because despite the fact that WA produces tons of renewable hydroelectric power, this new law does not consider hydroelectric "renewable." Because the people who wrote it are retarded. More than half of WA's electricity needs are already provided by renewable hydro power.
Seattle City Light itself provides 90 percent of its electricity through hydro. This law will force them to replace hydroelectricity with some other "renewable" energy. Retarded.
Further, the supporters lied through their entire campaign. And blatantly. They kept saying that this law will save money for ratepayers. If that were true, there would be no need to mandate it. Energy producers would pick the cheaper energy. It won't save money, it will cost more money.
So, how is that WA initiative process working out?
The voters pass $30 car tabs three times, and the state illegally ignores it. Voters eventually give up.
Then there was an initiative for a one percent cap on property tax growth, which a court incredulously threw out because it claimed the voters didn't know what they were voting for. Even though they voted exactly for what they got.
(The ruling was so backward it is mind-boggling. You see, a previous initiative set the cap to two percent, from six percent. This one then lowered it to one percent. The problem is that earlier in the same year, the previous initiative was ruled unconstitutional, so the judge said that voters didn't really know what they were voting for: is it from six to one, or two to one? As if it matters, since either way, it is going to one percent! Morons. Thankfully, the Supreme Court has stayed that ruling pending appeal.)
And then there was the Grange Initiative, which was clearly illegal under federal precedent, and wasted tons of taxpayer dollars being on the ballot. Not to mention the cost of dealing with the inevitable lawsuit, which inevitably led to its demise.
And now there's renewable energy, which might face similar death. If not thrown out by courts, it will face overturning by the voters or the legislature (voter-approved initiatives can be amended by the legislature after two years, which is stupid in and of itself anyay, as it effectively neuters the process).
I am against the initiative process, essentially. It simply doesn't work, and it violates the concept of republican government. But if we're to have it, the initiatives must be respected unless they are patently illegal according to the state or federal Constitution (as the Grange Initiative was). That even includes I-937. Even if it stands, voters will repeal it soon enough when their bills inevitably skyrocket.
Re:Washington state government
pudge on 2006-11-29T17:46:24
The Democrats already had total control of the state government, for the last two years. Dunno why you think things might change now that they continue to have total control of the state government.
