Citizens put renewable energy on this year’s ballots

by Jessica Kutz, Grist

The fossil fuel-friendly Trump administration has been busy rolling back environmental regulations and opening millions of acres of public land to oil and gas drilling. Just last week, the Interior Department announced plans to gut an Obama-era methane pollution rule, giving natural gas producers more leeway to emit the powerful greenhouse gas.

With the GOP controlling the executive branch and Congress, that means state-level ballot initiatives are one of the few tools progressives have left to advance their own energy agendas. Twenty-four states, including most Western ones, permit this type of “direct democracy,” which allows citizens who gather enough petition signatures to put new laws and regulations to a vote in general elections.

Read more: https://grist.org/article/citizens-put-renewable-energy-on-this-years-ballots/?utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_campaign=beacon