The Colorado Sun reports that Colorado legislative leaders are preparing a last-minute bill to counter Initiative 177, a proposed constitutional amendment that would give Coloradans the right to buy natural gas and allow distributors to sell it for cooking, heating, and other uses.
The article, by Sam Brasch and Taylor Dolven, says the measure is backed by Advance Colorado and is still in the petition-gathering stage. The response from statehouse Democrats is not subtle: race in with an 11th-hour bill before the session ends and try to blunt the impact before voters even get their say. Nothing says “we respect democracy” like panic-legislating because the peasants may choose wrong.
The Bullet Point Brief
- Initiative 177 would put a right to natural gas in the Colorado Constitution, giving consumers legal backing to purchase it and distributors legal backing to sell it. Apparently, “you may cook dinner how you choose” is now a revolutionary doctrine.
- Legislative leaders are prepping a bill to counter the measure before the session ends, because when voters start moving toward the ballot box, the Capitol’s reflex is to find the nearest procedural fire extinguisher.
- House Speaker Julie McCluskie raised concerns about public safety and local air quality, including a hypothetical about people walking around with natural gas in containers. Nothing calms the public like pretending your neighbor wants to backpack methane to brunch.
- Advance Colorado’s Michael Fields said the measure is about protecting consumers from rising energy costs and preserving access to reliable, affordable energy. That is the kind of argument that terrifies people who believe your thermostat should have a lobbyist.
- The article notes this is not the only ballot measure lawmakers have tried to neutralize this session. The ruling class has apparently discovered a new governing model: let citizens gather signatures, then sprint in at the last minute to make sure their votes matter less.
My Bottom Line
This is nauseating. Absolutely, 100 percent, check-the-label-on-the-gas-stove nauseating.
Initiative 177 appears to be polling well enough, or at least moving well enough, to make the Capitol nervous. And when Colorado’s ruling Democrats get nervous, they do not ask why regular families might want affordable, reliable energy. They do not ask why people are tired of being lectured by elites who want to manage their homes from a committee room in Denver. They just reach for another bill and try to shut the people up.
That is the real tell. This is not about safety theater. It is not about one goofy hypothetical about gas canisters on the sidewalk. It is about control. The same crowd that keeps making energy more expensive now wants to make sure you cannot lock in the right to use the energy source that heats your home, cooks your food, and keeps life running when Colorado weather does what Colorado weather does.
And yes, this is where the great suburban normie needs to wake up. The folks under the Gold Dome do not think you are capable of making your own decisions. Not about your stove. Not about your furnace. Not about your car. Not about your kids. Not about your wallet. They believe they are the adults and you are the problem to be managed.
There is a word for politicians who panic when citizens use the initiative process: afraid. There is another word for politicians who rush through 11th-hour bills to blunt the will of voters: arrogant. Colorado has plenty of both. And if the people of this state want to keep the right to live like free citizens instead of managed tenants in some green-policy showroom, they had better start firing the bums who think they know better than the rest of us how to live.
Source: The Colorado Sun
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