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.
1. Education reform. Michigan has fallen to 39th place in the country for k-12 education. It is absolutely vital for us to strengthen public schools, protect and expand honors and advanced academic programs, and invest in career and technical education that leads to good-paying jobs so Michigan's next generation has a chance to succeed. 2. Affordability and cost of living. Not only do we need to fix the current affordability crisis affecting nearly all Michigan families right now, but we also must ensure that this crisis isn't worsened. One major way to stop this problem from getting worse is to introduce legislation significantly cutting back on data center expansion in Michigan. Data centers have been shown time and time again to increase the utility costs for energy and water for Michigan families. On top of the rising costs, these data centers also tarnish our environment in a way that effects the people surrounding them by way of noise pollution as well as water table pollution. 3. Roads and infrastructure. Michigan's roads have been an issue for far too long. We always see politicians saying they'll fix it but they almost never do anything more than put in temporary fixes on a systemic issue. It is essential that Michigan introduces legislation that ensures contractors meet quality standards so roads don't have to be re-paved every 5 years. On top of that, we must also make sure that we ensure that these fixes when they need to be done are done in a timely manner. If we can solve these two issues then we could very well see the day when Michigan's roads aren't nationally known for being the worst across the country.
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
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?
The government should significantly curb data center expansion. One way of going about this is placing stricter guidelines on data center construction and making sure that they aren't built in places that are suitable for farmland or otherwise important spots to the local ecosystem.
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?
The way to reduce PFAS contamination is to place stricter guidelines on waste disposal coming from manufacturers; additionally, it's also necessary to put stricter guidelines on landfills and private waste disposal as a whole.
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?
Elected officials should absolutely play a greater role in holding utility companies responsible for their shortfalls. Not only does DTE routinely raise prices unnecessarily raise prices on consumers, but they also have a history of significant power outages that they're not held accountable for. Ensuring that they're held accountable for their service coverage as well as their pricing is something that would greatly benefit Michigan families.
What is your position on Line 5?
In all honesty, this is a topic I have to do more research on. On its surface however, I don't think that I would be opposed to allowing its construction. This project would see economic stimulus in the form of construction jobs for Michiganders and I believe that that's something we desperately need right now.
Would you support legislation to cap water bills for low-income Michiganders and add certain shut-off protections?
Absolutely. One of the reasons that Michigan is becoming increasingly unaffordable is because of the rising utility costs. This affordability crisis is one of the main factors driving Michiganders away from the state-- away from their home. We must work to reduce this any way we can so that Michigan residents don't feel as though they need to leave the state just to be able to live.
Do you support or oppose legislation to hold polluters accountable for cleanup costs?
Support