Voters in the Centennial State voted against amending the state constitution to enshrine the right to use or sell natural gas.

As of Wednesday, the Associated Press had projected that Colorado’s Amendment 82 would fail, with 86 percent of votes counted and 53.5 percent of voters opposed. The amendment would have prevented state or local bans on natural gas appliances, according to the Colorado Sun.

The amendment stemmed from a ballot initiative pushed by Advance Colorado, a conservative political group founded by former Colorado Gov. Bill Owens and Phil Anschutz, a billionaire who made his initial fortune in oil and gas.

If approved, the amendment would have blocked restrictions on gas appliances like those recently approved by the City and County of Denver, which in 2023 banned gas appliances in certain new construction to reduce pollution and lower climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions.

Environmental group Conservation Colorado led the fight to oppose the amendment through its No Pollution in the Constitution campaign. The group’s CEO, Kelly Nordini, said that “Advance Colorado and its anonymous donors spent millions trying to convince Coloradans to lock profits for polluters into our state constitution.”

“As Coloradans face the consequences of a changing climate and energy costs keep rising, voters chose to keep moving forward with the clean energy solutions that protect our environment, safeguard public health and safety, and make energy more affordable for families and businesses,” Nordini said in a Nov. 3 statement.