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.
Michigan’s 11th District is an automotive and manufacturing hub. The greatest threat we face is a disorganized green energy transition that leaves workers behind while corporate titans exploit federal funds and resources with no accountability. The people of Metro Detroit are still deeply tied to the fate and progress of the automotive industry. More recently, our region is seeing a rapid increase in data center proposals. While the US economy is being propped up by AI spending, this growth is affecting Michigan more directly due to our water resources. There are 16 data centers proposed in the state, one in MI-11’s Oakland County and several others nearby. While these data centers would prove economically lucrative, the massive energy consumption and water required to operate them present new, troubling environmental concerns. This is an urgent issue for my District and Michiganders as the global AI race has come to our backyard. I believe in progress, I know AI is here to stay, and I want to lead the charge on how we can approach this new era responsibly. We are also seeing the effects of climate change in our local infrastructure, from increased flooding risks to rising energy and insurance costs that rent-burdened families in cities like Pontiac simply cannot afford due to more extreme weather events. In 2023, the American Society of Civil Engineers rated Michigan a D+ for drinking water and stormwater management. Flooding and extreme weather events in the region continue to increase as our funding and building plans do not properly account for the rising effects of climate change and our infrastructure degrades.
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
As a lifelong public servant and union member, I fully support maintaining Michigan’s law to reach 100% clean energy by 2040 to ensure the transition creates high-paying, skilled trade union jobs for working families. Our fight for a green economy must be rooted in environmental justice, holding corporate titans accountable so that our working-class and minority communities are protected rather than left behind.
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?
While I believe in economic progress, the state government must act as a strict watchdog to ensure the rapid expansion of AI data centers does not happen on the backs of working families or compromise our natural resources. Michigan is quickly becoming a premier location for tech oligarchs due to our water resources, but the massive energy and water consumption of these facilities presents troubling environmental concerns that require urgent oversight. The state legislature should enact protective guardrails like the Data Center Regulation Act to temporarily pause construction, giving our local communities the necessary time to fully understand the long-term effects on our energy grid and land. Furthermore, we must protect consumers by enforcing laws like PA 181 and PA 207 so existing electric customers do not subsidize these corporate rates, while simultaneously requiring data centers to sign Project Labor Agreements that secure high-paying union jobs.
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?
To secure environmental justice, the single most important step we must take in the next term is to aggressively pass and enforce the 2025 Polluter Pay Package (such as House Bills 4636–4640) to legally shift the financial burden of cleanup from working-class taxpayers directly onto the corporate executives who caused the mess. For thirty years, since our state laws were gutted in 1995, corporations have been allowed to poison our water with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and simply fence off the contamination rather than treating it. Under this new framework, we will give the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) the teeth to mandate that polluters actively treat and completely remove hazardous materials. Furthermore, we must protect families by making these companies legally liable for the costs of long-term medical monitoring, completely expanding the statute of limitations for contaminant claims so victims can finally sue, and aggressively codifying the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) to guarantee safe drinking water that meets the strict federal limit.
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?
I have known the struggle of stretching a minimum wage paycheck to cover basic needs, which is why I refuse to sit by while big monopolies like DTE and Consumers Energy crush working-class families with relentless rate hikes. The government's primary responsibility is to protect the middle class and the common good from large companies that prioritize short-term corporate profits and wealthy shareholders over everyday people. As your next congressman, I will be a loud and proud advocate for strict corporate regulation and aggressive accountability, ensuring elected officials use their power to stop this price gouging and shield our communities from skyrocketing energy costs.
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?
I view the Line 5 Tunnel project as a matter of both economic and environmental necessity, because we don't have to choose between a healthy environment and a stable economy with good jobs. The current pipelines sitting exposed on the lakebed are an ecological risk we simply cannot afford, but shutting them down overnight without a viable plan would devastate Michigan’s energy security and put thousands of our union tradespeople out of work. That is why I support the Great Lakes Tunnel project. It uses highly skilled, union-trained workers to move that infrastructure into a secure, state-of-the-art vault, allowing us to protect our precious water resources while securing the kind of middle-class, union careers that families like mine relied on to survive.
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 wholeheartedly support capping water bills and instituting strict shutoff protections for our most vulnerable neighbors. Our government’s primary responsibility is to protect the working class and the common good, and I will always fight to ensure that no Michigan family is priced out of basic human survival.
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 large corporations and polluters accountable is one of the reasons I feel compelled to run for office.