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. Clean Water — Is a human right and a top priority for the communities I seek to serve. Improving water infrastructure, including removing all of our lead pipes, is a public health imperative, a priority I worked towards during my time on the Dearborn City Council.
2. Climate Change — I would also prioritize the creation of green jobs. Doing so is imperative to diversify our economy, reduce energy costs, mitigate the worst impacts of climate change, and ultimately protect our Michigander way of life. These jobs should be union-driven. We need to support training, retraining, apprenticeship programs, and career technical education for clean energy jobs.
3. Polluter Accountability — S accountable. I support fully funding EGLE and other environmental agencies so they can effectively enforce polluter accountability regulation. Corporate pollution has negatively impacted several communities in my district, who experience higher rates of asthma and other immune-deficiencies as a result.
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? Please explain your position.
Maintain the current law and timeline
I believe that climate change is a crisis demanding bold and immediate action, so I would support maintaining this law and voted for it during my first term in the House.
More than two dozen Michigan communities are considering or have approved large-scale data center developments. These facilities can consume as much electricity as a small city and place significant demands on local water and energy infrastructure. What role should state government play in overseeing data center development, and what guardrails should the state legislature enact to protect communities where data centers are proposed?
As a State Representative, I voted against tax incentives that would encourage data centers in Michigan. Data center development and implementation needs to be more transparent, involve local communities, and have safeguards in place to mitigate environmental impact, from monitoring water usage to ensuring energy costs are not displaced onto local residents. As DTE and Consumers continue egregious rate hikes, I am extremely cautious about increasing our state’s overall energy needs in the way data centers demand.
PFAS contamination has been detected in drinking water, groundwater, and surface water across Michigan. Cleanup efforts are underway, but many affected communities are still waiting for action. What is the single most important step the officeholder in this position should take on PFAS in the next term?
The single most important step on PFAS this next term is strengthening and funding Michigan’s ability to hold polluters accountable for PFAS contamination in order to ensure affected communities do not have to wait years for action, and to mitigate future PFAS disasters. We need stronger polluter pay legislation and increased funding for EGLE to identify contaminated sites and require responsible parties to pay for cleanup.
Michigan residents in some communities face disproportionate exposure to air pollution, contaminated water, and industrial waste. Do you support requiring Michigan regulators to assess cumulative environmental and health impacts on overburdened communities before approving new permits for polluting facilities?
Yes
Yes, Michigan regulators should conduct these assessments before approving new facilities. A clear understanding of the environmental and public health impacts on communities, especially overburdened communities, is necessary to prevent further harm.
Utility rate cases directly affect what Michigan residents pay for electricity and gas. DTE and Consumers Energy have requested frequent significant rate increases in recent years. Should elected officials play a greater role in holding utility companies accountable for rate hikes and rising energy costs?
Our state absolutely needs to hold utility companies accountable. Elected officials should play a greater role in ensuring residents pay fair rates. To support this, I have led efforts to introduce a ratepayer bill of rights, and have introduced legislation that would increase transparency in campaign finance, in turn reducing the influence utility companies have.
Enbridge's Line 5 pipeline runs through the Straits of Mackinac and carries crude oil and natural gas liquids between Wisconsin and Ontario. A proposed tunnel beneath the lakebed to house a replacement pipeline has faced legal and regulatory challenges for years. What is your position on the future of Line 5?
Water is one of our most precious resources and I do not support the continuation of Line 5 given the potential risk to our lakes. I do support the creation of, investment in, and unionization of good-paying green energy/economy jobs so that employment opportunities remain intact.
Drinking water is becoming increasingly unaffordable for Michiganders in both rural and urban areas, leading to water shutoffs. Would you support legislation that caps water bills for low-income Michiganders and adds shutoff protections?
Yes, I would support legislation that caps bills for low-income Michigan residents and adds shutoff protections. Clean water is an essential human right and Michigan should be a national leader on this front.
Michigan is home to more than 18,000 contaminated sites. Do you support or oppose legislation to hold polluters accountable for cleaning up these sites?
Support
Holding polluters accountable is a crucial step towards remediating current environmental harms facing our communities. This legislation will help preempt public health crises, protect our natural resources, and support public health. I have co-sponsored polluter pay legislation and will continue to advocate for its passage.