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.
PFAs, environmentally safe fertilizers, land and water contamination by industries. PFAs seem to be everywhere contaminating well water, farmland, lakes, streams, etc. Farmers say they would gladly use environmentally safe fertilizers if they could provide abundant crops. And much of our land and water has been contaminated by irresponsible industries who refuse to clean-up the mess they made of our environment.
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 think the laws as it stands is reasonable for now.
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?
State government should have a major role in oversight of data centers. At this time, I support a moratorium on constructing data centers until more facts can be obtained and details worked out. Strict adherence to established guidelines should be rigidly enforced by the state.
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?
This needs to be at least a three-prong approach of identification, clean-up and prevention. As an office holder my first step would be to familiarize myself with the work being done by the Michigan PFAs Action Response Team to identify ways to speed-up the program and clean up our environment.
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
Pollution is pollution. Clean air and pure water are essential to our survival and our planets.
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?
Either that or support efforts to create competition.
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?
Something has to be done about Line 5, it's old and in need of repairs. I understand that it has leaked nearly one million gallons of oil into our Great Lakes. We either have to replace it with something that offers more protection from leakage and deterioration or relocate it.
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?
I would support adding certain shut-off protections. Capping water bills for low-income Michiganders would require some investigation with perhaps usage controls to prevent abuse.
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
They made the mess; they should clean it up. I fully believe that many companies knew exactly what they were doing and continued to pollute because they thought they could get away with it, -- and for the most part they did.