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.
The three most pressing environmental issues facing Michigan communities are PFAS contamination, protecting the Great Lakes, and defending our nation's bedrock environmental protections. Michigan is home to some of the most PFAS impacted communities in the country, and I have worked in a bipartisan manner to invest in cleanup efforts, reduce PFAS pollution, and hold polluters accountable because every family deserves access to safe, clean drinking water and unpolluted communities. As the Great Lakes State, protecting the lakes that provide drinking water, support jobs, and drive our economy is essential. That means investing in wastewater infrastructure, combating invasive species, and supporting the research needed to address emerging environmental challenges. Finally, Michigan communities understand the consequences when pollution goes unchecked, which is why it is critical to defend environmental laws and ensure agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency have the resources necessary to enforce them. Protecting Michigan's air, water, and natural resources is essential to supporting our communities, economy, and quality of life for generations to come.
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.
N/A This question does not apply to the election in which I am a candidate
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?
Let me be clear: If I'm your next Senator, when it comes to AI and data centers, you’re not gonna see costs go up and you’re not gonna see your job go away. I do want to see Michigan lead the world in AI and create good paying UNION jobs at data centers, but I'm not going to let AI take your job or let data centers harm our water or cause your utility bill to skyrocket. That’s why I have a bill to stop utility companies from raising rates, and I am working to make data centers pay their fair share.
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?
As an active member of the bipartisan PFAS Task Force, I have worked across party lines to prevent the administration from weakening PFAS protections in drinking water, manufacturing, and reporting requirements. As a proud Michigander, I understand the real world consequences of federal inaction, particularly when the military fails to follow through on cleaning up decades of PFAS contamination that have harmed Michigan communities. I introduced the PROTECT Act to designate certain PFAS as hazardous air pollutants under the Clean Air Act and empower the EPA to regulate emissions. The PROTECT Act is a key piece of Rep. Dingell’s bipartisan PFAS Action Act, which has passed the House twice with bipartisan support, marking significant legislative progress in addressing PFAS.
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
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?
Yes, elected officials should take a greater role in holding utility companies accountable. DTE and other investor-owned utilities cannot keep hiking bills and lining their pockets. That is why I introduced the Stop Unfair Electricity Prices Act to strip federal funding away from investor-owned utilities that raise their rates for customers within a year of the last price hike. Under the legislation’s three-year timeline, in year one, any utility that sought an additional rate hike would lose funding from the U.S. Department of Energy. In years two and three, the utility would lose federal funding if it raised rates and did not cut the pay of the five highest-paid employees by double the percentage of the rate increase.
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?
This is not a federal issue, but it is one that requires diplomacy with our neighbors in Canada and thoughtfulness at the local level. We all want the same thing. We want our Great Lakes to remain safe and clean, and we want to avoid the ecological catastrophe of an oil spill. We also want to protect and support union jobs. If we get to a place where local leadership decides to pursue the new tunnel, we must make protecting the Great Lakes our priority while at the same time looking out for organized labor and ensuring there are good-paying jobs available.
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. We must protect the right for every Michigander to access clean drinking water. While jurisdiction over this particular issue is primarily held at the state level, I've been proud to champion affordable access to clean water in Congress by strengthening drinking water reporting requirements, securing major PFAS cleanup funding through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and introducing the PFAS-Free Procurement Act. I've also secured federal funding for water infrastructure improvement projects across my district.
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
I support legislation to hold polluters accountable and helped introduce the bipartisan, bicameral PFAS Free Procurement Act of 2024 with Sen. Gary Peters (D–MI), which advanced through the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee in the 118th Congress to press the Department of Defense to clean up PFAS contamination linked to military installations in Michigan. These efforts reflect my commitment to environmental justice, particularly for communities facing long term exposure to “forever chemicals.”