What the Seattle Times editorial board got wrong about the Washington ballot measure.

On October 4, 2024, the Seattle Times editorial board encouraged its readers to vote yes on Washington Ballot Initiative 2066. That endorsement is riddled with misleading statements and omits critical facts about the issues at hand.

The endorsement focuses almost exclusively on critiquing House Bill 1589, a law passed by the state legislature in 2024. In doing so, the editorial board implies (incorrectly) that Initiative 2066 would repeal HB 1589 in its entirety. In fact, Initiative 2066 selectively takes aim at some of the most climate-friendly provisions of HB 1589, leaving much of the law intact.

More important, the editorial board glosses over other potentially further-reaching consequences of Initiative 2066, such as those on the state energy code. The editorial board also misleads readers on the facts of the energy transition. (For instance, it erroneously implies that converting gas pipes to pump green hydrogen into homes is a worthy and viable climate solution.)

Sightline is not endorsing or opposing any ballot initiatives in 2024. But as an independent nonpartisan research organization, we have extensively studied the policies that Initiative 2066 would repeal and others it could affect. The Seattle Times editorial board is entitled to an opinion, but for the paper of record in Washington state to take a stand, the opinion should be based on fact, not fiction. Below we correct the errors and fill in the gaps in the Seattle Times' endorsement of Initiative 2066.

The Seattle Times editorial board glosses over how Initiative 2066 could affect the Washington energy code.

"Tacked on was a concurrent repeal of new state building codes that make installation of gas furnaces nearly impossible." - Seattle Times editorial board

FACT: Initiative 2066 could prevent Washington from encouraging the most energy-efficient heating and cooling systems in new buildings.

The editorial board devotes just a single sentence to one of the biggest potential effects of Initiative 2066: a new restriction on the state energy code.

The energy code sets the standards for all new construction of buildings in Washington. Since 2009, Washington state law has required that the energy code be designed to construct "increasingly energy efficient homes and buildings" and help achieve a statewide goal of emissions-free new construction by 2031.

Initiative 2066 would add new language to state statute that prevents the state energy code from "prohibiting, penalizing, or discouraging" the use of gas in any building. The initiative would also eliminate Washington's longstanding requirement that the energy code help achieve emissions-free new construction. In practice, this new restriction could be used to challenge Washington's 2021 state energy code.

To be clear, the 2021 energy code (which is currently in effect) does not prevent gas in new construction. But because the energy code must be designed to construct "increasingly energy efficient homes," it does incentivize the most efficient heating system on the market: electric heat pumps. Air-source heat pumps can earn an efficiency rating of 300 to 400 percent compared to the highest-efficiency gas furnace, which tops out at 95 percent efficiency.

If a builder wants to construct a new dwelling with a gas furnace, they can. But to meet Washington's overall efficiency standards, they'll need to devote resources to other (likely more expensive) efficiency measures, such as reducing air leakage.

Plus, the editorial board fails to remind readers that not constructing new homes that burn fossil fuels is one of the easiest, cheapest climate actions Washington can take. The state will add nearly one million new residential units between 2024 and 2050, according to forecast data from the Northwest Power and Conservation Council. (Never mind that building new all-electric homes is cheaper than building new homes with gas hookups ...