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. Data Centers — S—communities do not want data centers in their backyard. I don’t blame them. I don’t want a data center forced on any community.
2. Clean Energy — Specifically the proliferation of windmills. I’d like communities to have clean, reliable energy without harm to the common good.
3. Clean Drinking Water — We need to clean this up. We don’t know enough about it and people are worried about these forever chemicals and what they could be doing to our kids.
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
With funding and community buy-in this an achievable goal.
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?
Regulations for data centers should be made at the state level. I would sponsor legislation that requires data centers to be built in brown zones. The center must remediate the land before construction. Construction jobs must go to Michiganders. After, built and operating, data centers will be taxed and that money set aside in a fund to compensate any harm done to stakeholders as decided by a panel of experts assembled 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?
Fund the clean up so that we can create good-paying, union jobs. Fund the clean up so that we can have a team of independent scientists working to find more efficient ways to remediate our water supply.
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
I’m shocked that this isn’t already a law in place. This is unacceptable. I’ll sponsor the legislation myself.
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. Electeds should not take campaign donations from Big Energy.
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 will wholeheartedly support the Great Lakes Tunnel Project when the Twelve Tribes government it their blessing.
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.
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
The taxpayers are burdened enough. They should not be on the hook because of the neglect of a corporation. Corporations don’t need any help. They are doing fine. Corporate Welfare? Not on my watch.