Environmental Issues on 2020 Election Ballots
- ecoexplained
- Nov 9, 2020
- 3 min read
Updated: Nov 27, 2020
I think we can all agree the election has been drawn out and stressful, and unfortunately, issues like conservation, climate change, and COVID have taken a backseat to the election attention. However, some environmental propositions did make it onto the ballots of some states, even though they are significantly fewer than past years.
Colorado Proposition 114 proposes big strides for conservation of a critically endangered apex predator: the grey wolf. Gray wolf populations have alarmingly decreased because of an increase of populations and urban sprawl (people moving from more urban areas to rural areas populations increase in cities and towns) following WW2 and the popularity surge of suburbs. With more people moving out of cities, more agricultural areas have developed in previously undeveloped areas, including farms with livestock. Federal extermination programs to make safer places for developing lands pushed their populations to near extinction, until the passing of the Endangered Species Act in the 1960s (Biological Center of Diversity). However, as an apex predator, gray wolves are crucial in driving evolution and in balancing ecosystems.
The proposition aims to fix these declining populations by promising to develop a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolves in Colorado, take necessary steps to begin reintroduction by December 31, 2023, and even pay fair compensation for livestock losses caused by gray wolves (Colorado General Assembly). After the election results, the bill passed! Now, Colorado and Parks Wildlife Commission will develop a plan to reintroduce and manage gray wolves west of the Continental Divide.
Another big environmental issue on the Nevada ballot is Question 6, a constitutional amendment about a clean energy plan. Nevada voters passed Question 6 in 2018, but Nevada law dictates that constitutional amendments be passed in two consecutive even-numbered election years. More clean energy for the state seems promising and moving in direction, but there's concern that limiting the plan to only 50% renewables by 2030 isn't enough to actually work towards mitigating climate change and creating enough jobs.
According to EcoWatch, “will make it harder to continue the push for 100% renewables in the future. To do that would be another constitutional amendment that would again take four years and two consecutive ballot wins to move the needle.” Passing Question 6 would make it harder to push any more ambitious amendments or laws in the future for Nevada. Unfortunately to those doubters, it did pass.
While it is not directly about the environment, California Prop 15 attempts to hold big corporations responsible for the majority of emissions that contribute to climate change by changing tax laws on the properties they own. Commercial and industrial properties will need to start paying taxes based on their current market value, instead of paying based on the purchase price from decades prior (which attempts to counteract Proposition 13 passed back in 1978). The initiative would not apply to agricultural land, small businesses, renters, and homeowners, and it would allocate the new revenue to increase funding for public schools, community colleges, and local government services.
Prop 13 had allowed big oil companies to utilize its loopholes in order to evade taxes and to spend more on extracting, selling, and/or using fossil fuels. Essentially, the new Prop 15 would prevent large oil companies from profiting as much from their destruction of the environment in terms of limiting their evasive tactics on their properties in California. According to the Natural Resources Defense Council, "companies like Chevron, Exxon, Phillips 66, Shell and Tosco are paying taxes based on assessments taken prior to 2000. Prop. 15 would end this hidden subsidy to dirty energy." As of 11:15 pm on Sunday, November 8 with 84% percent reporting, 51.9% of CA voters have voted “no.” We can only hope that, as more votes are being counted, the results turn more in favor of limiting the profits of these devastating corporations.
However, things are looking up on the federal level with the recent election of Joe Biden as President of the United States and with his promised commitment to greener energy and to actualizing a plan to combat climate change. We can only hope that his plans put us on the right track and are ambitious enough to create more green jobs for those suffering from job loss in the pandemic, and to ultimately create the change we need to see for the sake of our environment.
Links to Info Cited:
EcoWatch Article: https://www.ecowatch.com/2020-environment-ballot-issues-2647868019.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3
CO Prop 114:
Question 6 State Constitutional Amendment: https://www.nvsos.gov/sos/home/showdocument?id=8826
CA Prop 15:
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