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. Clean Drinking Water — Restoring wetlands and rivers, protecting the Great Lakes, and holding polluters accountable. We all have a duty to protect Michigan’s water.
2. Data Centers — S. Michiganders don’t trust Big Tech to build out data centers without polluting our air and water, hiking our energy rates, and permanently reshaping our towns and cities. I support a 12-month federal moratorium so appropriate regulation can be put in place and we can work towards a national social compact for data centers and the use of A.I.
3. Conservation reserve program — Conservation reserve program (CRP). This program pays farmers to restore a buffer zone alongside rivers and streams. This diversifies farm revenue, increases biodiversity, and reduces pollution runoff and soil loss. Michigan farmers do not have as much access to this program as many other agricultural states. I would seek to expand it.
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?
I believe that state and federal government should have an integral role in ensuring data center development does not harm local communities and overwhelm water and energy systems. I support a 12-month federal moratorium to ensure that appropriate guardrails are put in place before further expansion of data centers and AI race forward. I support guardrails requiring full environmental reviews, including air, water, light, and sound pollution. We need binding assurances from utilities and data center developers that all new energy to service data center demand will be clean and renewable energy. We need a binding rate freeze to ensure that residential energy rates will not increase. grid impact reviews as well as water supply effect. Finally, we need to regulate not only data centers, but the AI that they generate, and ensure that AI is deployed for the benefit of all humanity, not only a few billionaires in silicon valley.x`
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?
I believe that the most important step to address PFAS is to fully fund and implement an immediate statewide PFAS cleanup strategy that holds polluters accountable. These standards need to be enforced quickly and with a recognition of the needs of local communities.
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 believe that the historic and cumulative burden of pollution on a given community should be part of the assessment when considering new facilities. No community should be turned into a sacrifice zone for the benefit of a faceless corporations.
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. DTE and Consumers Energy should be held responsible for raising rates and making ratepayers suffer the burden. We have seen how they operate: get approved for one rate hike, and then turn around and immediately apply for another rate hike! Where does this stop??? The MPSC needs to start standing up for ratepayers.
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?
The Great Lakes are a jewel of planet Earth and we all have a duty to protect them. If a spill happens, the result would be catastrophic to the Lakes. Line 5 needs to be shut down permanently. The risk is simply too high.
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 believe all Michiganders should have access to clean water and I will support legislation at the state and federal level to ensure clean water access.
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 that holds polluters accountable for cleaning up these sites. Polluters should fix the messes they create.
Data center proposals have multiplied across Michigan since the spring, and it is by far the most common topic readers have asked candidates about. Would you support a pause on new hyperscale data center approvals until state guardrails on water use, noise, utility rate impacts, and local approval are in place? Please explain, including whether data centers should keep their state tax breaks, whether local communities should be able to reject them, and whether they should pay the full cost of the grid and water capacity they require.
Yes
I am deeply concerned with how the development of AI and data centers is playing out. I have been a leader in the fight to take on Big Tech and ensure that we don’t allow big tech to build hyperscale data centers in our communities without a careful regulatory framework to ensure communities are not harmed in the process. I recently put out an AI plan that includes a federal moratorium on hyperscale data center approvals until comprehensive guardrails are in place to limit community impact. I do not think data centers should keep their state tax breaks. I do believe that local communities should be able to reject them, and I also believe they should pay the full cost of the resources they require.
Communities near heavy industry see frequent air quality alerts, wildfire smoke now adds unhealthy-air days statewide, and EGLE has limited staff to inspect facilities and enforce permits. Do you support stronger air pollution enforcement, such as higher penalties for repeat violators or emission limits on unhealthy-air days? What specifically would you do to protect vulnerable residents, including those in the most polluted zip codes, on those days?
Yes, I support stronger air pollution enforcement through methods like higher penalties for repeat offenders. To protect vulnerable residents, I would work to provide resources like N95 masks and real-time alerts.
Michigan is already seeing more extreme heat, storms, and flooding, and households pay some of the highest electric rates in the Midwest for some of the least reliable service. What specific steps would you take in your first term toward the MI Healthy Climate Plan goals, and would you support community solar and expanded weatherization so residents can own or share in clean power and lower their bills?
I would focus on accelerating renewable energy and grid upgrades, expanding weatherization and efficiency programs, and enabling community solar so renters and low-income households can share in clean power. Yes, I would support community solar and expanded weatherization so that residents can own and share in clean power and lower their bills.
Federal cuts to EPA staffing, enforcement, and Great Lakes funding are shifting responsibility for air, water, and public health protection to the states. Should Michigan backfill that funding and enforcement, and how would you pay for it? What would you do to make Michigan's own environmental protections durable against future rollbacks?
I’m running for federal office, so while I support state-level backfilling, my priority would be fighting to restore funding to the EPA so that they can continue to do the critical work of protecting our water, air, and health.
Michigan's forests, wetlands, and public lands support clean water, wildlife, outdoor recreation, and flood protection, yet the DNR estimates nearly a billion dollars in backlogged capital needs. What are your top priorities for protecting these lands over the next term, including wetland and floodplain protection, groundwater withdrawals by bottlers, and native habitat, and how would you fund them?
I would prioritize protecting wetlands and floodplains from development, strengthening review of groundwater withdrawals including bottled-water operations, and restoring native wildlife habitat. I would fund that work through the General Fund, the constitutionally protected Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund, federal dollars, and greater fees on large commercial water users so extractive users pay for stewardship and enforcement.