Taking the hands from around our necks

In 2006, Washington voters were fed a very sweet poison called Initiative 937.

This citizen’s initiative was sold as a way to help move the state into creating more “green energy” by requiring that 15% of electrical generation be done using “renewable” sources.

With 52% of the voters being ignorant louts too busy picking the lint out of their navels and needing a new reason to feel all warm and fuzzy about Mother Gaia, believing that this wouldn’t be either difficult or a burden to their wallets, it passed.

The problem was that the eco-socialists who wrote the initiative didn’t tell the whole truth in their advertising. Things like how Washington already gets nearly 70% of its wattage from hydro-electric sources (making us one of the greenest states to begin with), or that the list of “renewable” sources included in the bill excluded any hydroelectric generation, because the leftists don’t consider rivers “renewable” or some such pap.

Essentially, Washington energy producers had to “diversify” and were required to invest in either wind or solar electrical generation technology.

Spokane’s State Senator, Chris Marr, is trying to change this by introducing SB 5840 which would include hydro power and count reduced usage towards the 15% goal.

This is a truly bipartisan bill, with Marr being a Democrat and the bill having six Dem co-sposnors and six Repub co-sponsors.

We’ve only got a couple years to set I 937 aside and do something not only historic but also reasonable. If you’re a Washington resident and like your electric rates to stay as low as they are now, I suggest that you give your Senator a call and let them know how you feel.