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.