A King County Superior Court judge has ruled that a voter-approved initiative that would roll back government and utilities’ plans to move the state’s energy grid away from natural gas violates Washington’s Constitution.
Voters passed statewide Initiative 2066 with nearly 52% support in November, but it became the target of a lawsuit brought by climate activists, solar energy industry representatives, the city of Seattle, and King County a month later.
The plaintiffs and their attorneys argued the initiative confused voters on purpose and violated the state’s rule that initiatives should only cover a single subject. Initiative 2066 rolls back local and state efforts to transition away from gas over the next quarter century but also blocks Washington’s building code from doing anything to “prohibit, penalize, or discourage the use of gas for any form of heating.”…