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 most pressing environmental issues are climate change (this problem is driving up energy needs and making our entire planet less inhabitable), environmental contamination (contamination is causing an increase in illnesses in increasingly younger populations), and microplastics (I am separating this out from broader contamination because of the enormous scale of the issue).
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 was a lead sponsor of the 2023 law and believe it is critical that we protect it.
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 set guardrails around water usage, contamination prohibitions, and energy usage (and subsidies) to ensure residential energy customers are not left paying for the incredible amount of energy these data centers use.
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?
Providing dedicated funding for PFAS remediation and cleanup is critical, as is putting policy in place to prevent the contamination to begin with.
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 believe there are policies the legislature can enact, such as certain reliability or affordability metrics being in place, to ensure that rate increases are necessary and being directed at improving energy reliability.
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 do not support keeping Line 5 in operation and I do not support the tunnel. The state carried out a thoughtful and well-rounded study that found other mechanisms to deliver fuel to areas serviced by Line 5, and I believe that the risks posed by it are too significant.
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 do support this legislation.
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
It is intuitive that the people who create the issue should be responsible for cleaning it up.