I believe ballot initiatives or propositions can be dangerous, because entities like the Mormon Church can provide vast amounts of resources and manipulate information in order to impose their agenda; therefore abuse of the system is possible. 

Certainly, we saw this with Prop 8, which unfortunately passed and banned same sex marriage under a simple majority. The Mormon Church, although centralized in Utah, donated $20 million to Prop 8. As a result of its interference and support, some believe the Mormon Church should be stripped of its tax-exempt status, while others believe the focus should not be on the Mormon Church.

However, if an entity is going to donate great amounts of resources and time to one initiative, then it should be prepared for the consequences. Furthermore, why does a group like the Mormon Church—that receives a tax-exempt status—have a right to interfere with another group by taking away their rights; and the disadvantaged group must pay taxes to entities (the state and federal governments), which don’t recognize their rights? It’s blatantly unfair.

Unlike, Prop 8, Prop 10 did not pass. Prop 10 was also known as the California Alternative Fuels Initiative, which was closely connected to T. Boone Pickens. Prop 10 would have provided “$3.425 billion to help consumers and others purchase certain high fuel economy or alternative fuel vehicles, including natural gas vehicles, and to fund research into alternative fuel technology.” T. Boone Pickens had a direct stake in Prop 10, because his company, Clean Energy Fuels Corp., could have provided natural gas for these alternative fuel vehicles. As a result, Pickens with his corporation “contributed nearly $19 million” to the ballot effort. Although it failed, it’s still a lot of money that can be used for misinformation. The fact is, we don’t need to replace one fossil fuel with another, especially since electric vehicle, hybrid, and plug-in hybrid electric vehicle technologies are becoming more efficient.  Natural gas has its place as an alternative fuel—possibly in the trucking industry—but not on the large scale that Pickens seeks.

It seems like ballot proposals are democracy in action, but they aren’t. Outsiders with an interest or stake in these initiatives can unfairly disadvantage certain groups by donating resources and using misinformation to rally their efforts. For these reasons, I believe our elected officials and the courts are the best routes to take for change.

MarketWatch provides more information regarding the failure of Prop 10:

“California voters didn’t fall for a Texas oil tycoon’s $10 billion money grab, no matter how much he spent camouflaging it as green,” stated Richard Holober, spokesman for the No on Prop 10 campaign, and Executive Director of the Consumer Federation of California. “Proposition 10 is the ultimate example of a wealthy special interest abusing the ballot initiative process to enrich itself. We built a coalition of major environmental, consumer, business, labor, taxpayer and civic organizations that triumphed over Prop 10’s $23 million war chest. The defeat of Prop 10 sends a signal that California’s ballot initiative process is not for sale to the highest bidder.”

Mr. Pickens’ Clean Energy Fuels Corporation contributed nearly $19 million to the Yes on Prop 10 campaign. Chesapeake Energy and its owner Aubrey McClendon donated $3.5 million to the Yes on 10 campaign. Clean Energy is the nation’s largest operator of natural gas fueling stations, and Chesapeake is the largest independent producer of natural gas in the U.S. Both corporations would have made a fortune under Prop 10’s multibillion dollar giveaway program to create a market for natural gas-fueled trucks.

The No on Prop 10 campaign raised about $170,000.

The defeat of Proposition 10 is the first test of voter support for the self-styled “Pickens Plan.” News reports state that Mr. Pickens has spent $58 million on national television ads since July promoting his plan. One key component of his plan is the conversion of vehicles to run on natural gas. Pickens Plan ads do not spell out who pays for this conversion, and who benefits from it.

On the Net: PROPOSITION 8: Are ballot initiatives wise?

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