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She considers climate change man-made; he doesn’t. He wants the government to open up more land to drill for oil; she doesn’t. You get to cast your ballot for one of them.
Got two minutes for a voter speed date? It might help you figure out whom to vote for in November.
She’s Rosa DeLauro, a Democrat who has represented this area in Congress for 22 years.
He’s Wayne Winsley, a motivational speaker and former radio talk-show host who’s running as a Republican this fall to seek to unseat her in the Nov. 6 general election.
On the environment and foreign policy, the two candidates have some common ground, but still give voters a genuine choice between two different perspectives. More so on the environment than on foreign policy, in which both are reluctant to send troops to Syria and said they would stand behind Israel if it ever bombs Iran.
The candidates discussed their views on those subjects with the Independent recently — she in her Elm Street office, he a half-block away at the offices the Independent shares with the Spanish-language newspaper La Voz Hispana. This is one of several articles looking at where they stand on real issues they’d face next year if voters elect them. (Click here for a previous “speed date” on health care issues.)
Check out their answers below on environmental questions to see who stands where you stand.
1. Is Climate Change Real?
• DeLauro: “Real. … We have to take the research and be able to use it to deal with droughts, the sloughing off of portions of the glaciers. There’s got to be a realism about this.”
“We ought to be seriously looking at how we deal with what is creating these problems in terms of the pesticides, the gases, all of these efforts, which come from man-made activity. ”
• Winsley: “I think it’s more natural than anything else. Not” man-made. He said he’d be open to considering “reasonable measures to ensure that our business that our industries operate as cleanly and efficiently as possible.” Would that include caps on carbon emissions? “That’s something that I would have to look very carefully at case by case.”
2. Should government invest in solar, geothermal, and wind-power companies?
• DeLauro said yes. She called the government’s failed investment in the Solyndra company “one project that went wrong,” signalling that “better protections” need to be put in place when government seeks to spur develop of alternative green technologies, but not a reasons to stop investing. (The Obama administration gave $527 million in loan guarantees to the now-bankrupt California manufacturer of solar panels.)
• Winsley: “The answer is no. When government attempts to do things that government doesn’t do, it messes it up.” However, in a follow-up question, WInsley said he does support “incentivizing” businesses. Solyndra points to a need to avoid major government investments and rely on the private market instead, he argued.
3. Approve the Keystone natural gas pipeline?
Winsley: Yes.
DeLauro: Maybe, if more environmental protections are put in place.
4. Open up more of Alaska and the outer Continental shelf to oil drilling?
Winsley: Yes. “In general I’m in favor of the United States having access to more of its natural resources. That way we can stop buying petroleum from countries that don’t really like us.”
DeLauro: No. “I’ve been opposed to opening up the reserves. I believe there have been more possibilities for drilling without going to these pristine parts of our nation where we want to preserve the environment. In addition to which, we have now become an exporter of oil. That is because of natural gas.”
5. Speaking of natural gas — do you support “fracking”?
DeLauro and Winsley basically agreed that they could support a more environmentally friendly version of the increasingly popular method of releasing natural gas from underground rock formations. They both spoke of supporting versions of fracking (which are more costly, thus opposed by industry) that avoid the use of chemicals that contaminate drinking water.
If you have time for a more detailed look at candidates and their positions, check out this tool from an outfit called ElectNext: