Planet Detroit Candidate Survey
What are the three most pressing environmental issues facing the communities you seek to serve? Please rank them in order of priority and briefly explain why you chose each.
Residents in Detroit and Downriver live near heavy industrial facilities and corporate polluters which put toxins in our air and water. For far too long, these polluters have gone with little to no accountability from the MDEQ and EGLE. In the State House, I introduced the Protecting Overburdened Communities Act (POCA), landmark legislation which would block new permits for polluters in vulnerable communities and require public hearings to ensure residents have a real say in the decisions affecting their health. I will reintroduce this bill in the State Senate and I will push for polluter-pay legislation to hold these companies responsible for cleaning up toxic contamination. Furthermore, after the recent DTE clean air violation, I will push to attach any rate case request before the MPSC to factor in any environmental violations that the companies have incurred.
Second, the climate crisis threatens the lives and livelihoods of all people, and will disproportionately impact the working-poor and Black and Brown communities. I support accelerating Michigan’s transition to clean energy. This means expanding renewable energy standards, investing in community solar and energy efficiency programs, and supporting job training programs so Michigan workers have access to well-paying job opportunities in clean energy. I authored was a lead sponsor on the Clean Energy and Jobs Act that passed we passed 2023 which made progress on these priorities, but there is more work left to do.
Finally, protecting Michigan’s water requires modernizing aging water infrastructure (and funding it by charging current data centers a water super tax), strengthening protections against industrial contamination, and safeguarding the Great Lakes through stronger state oversight and long term conservation planning.
Michigan law requires utilities to reach 100% clean energy by 2040. If elected, would you support maintaining this law, or would you support revising or repealing it?
Maintain the current law and timeline
Explanation for Question 2 (1-2 sentences)
I was proud to be the lead House lawmaker on the Michigan Clean Energy and Jobs Act.
More than two dozen Michigan communities are considering or have approved large-scale data center developments. What role should state government play in overseeing data center development, and what guardrails should the state legislature enact?
I support a moratorium on hyper-scale data centers. I believe data center companies should be required to pay a “water usage super-tax” for utilizing our water to help fund the critical water infrastructure repairs that will cost the state billions of dollars. We also must re-examine energy rates for industrial rate-payers; I support establishing a new category for large-load users to ensure data centers pay their fair share for their disproportionate impacts on our communities.
Additionally, there must be full transparency and an end to backroom deals with elected officials - water and energy usage should be publicly reported, and the people affected should have a real voice before anything is approved.
PFAS contamination has been detected across Michigan. What is the single most important step the officeholder in this position should take on PFAS in the next term?
In the State Senate, I will introduce legislation to ban the sale of household products that contain PFAS here in Michigan. Corporations sell everyday products which contain harmful toxins and chemicals that cause cancer, liver disease, and suppressed immune system response. A ban on the sales of these products will keep corporations accountable for the products that they produce and keep our communities safe and protected from harm - especially as the Trump administration is rolling back federal drinking water standards for forever chemicals. Furthermore, I was proud to champion and introduce legislation and policy discussions around extended producer responsibility which shifts the burden on how to deal with the end-life of a product on the producer, not on consumers who deal with waste companies that do not appropriately recycle the goods that we use; I will continue to lead on these policies in the State Senate. I will also fight to restore and strengthen Michigan's polluter pay laws so the companies that contaminate our water must pay to clean up their mess, and so residents exposed to these chemicals can get the medical monitoring they deserve.
Do you support requiring Michigan regulators to assess cumulative environmental and health impacts on overburdened communities before approving new permits for polluting facilities?
Yes
Should elected officials play a greater role in holding utility companies accountable for rate hikes and rising energy costs?
Yes. Families are paying more for unreliable service while monopoly utility companies like DTE continue to profit. I am the only candidate in this race who supports a five-year freeze on DTE bills and guardrails to ensure that every rate-hike request to the Michigan Public Service Commission is contested. Any rate increase request must be attached to performance and come with a clearly outlined proposal which shows how revenue increases will be used to improve service, not increase the already sky-high profits of DTE executives.
What is your position on Line 5?
I believe Line 5 should be shut down. A 72-year-old pipeline carrying crude oil and natural gas liquids across the open water of the Straits of Mackinac is a catastrophe waiting to happen. The Great Lakes hold 20% of the world's surface fresh water and define who we are as a state. Michigan's future should be in clean energy, not in betting the Great Lakes on an aging pipeline.
Would you support legislation to cap water bills for low-income Michiganders and add certain shut-off protections?
Yes. In the House, I was the lead lawmaker on the Michigan Water Affordability legislation - and we were one vote away from its passage. I am proud to have the support of our water champion Sen. Stephanie Chang and will support legislation that caps bills for low-income residents, institutes water shutoff protections, and forgives crushing water debt.
Do you support or oppose legislation to hold polluters accountable for cleanup costs?
Support
Please explain your position on polluter accountability.
Polluter Pay is common sense. We learned as three year olds that you have to clean your mess if you make one. We need to set the same standard for corporations that contaminate our communities.