Democratic Candidate - Wisconsin's 5th District, U.S. House of Representatives

As the grandson of a farmer and the son of a nature enthusiast, I grew up with a greater than average experience with the natural world around me. This included both close-up interactions with wildlife as well as the care of domestic animals.

These early experiences helped foster my belief that nature is both miraculous and finite and that proper stewardship of our environment is both necessary and overdue. Moreover, effective environmental management requires a coordinated and serious effort involving private industry as well as public leadership.

Environmental Technology Innovation

Recent studies have indicated that we are losing the international race to develop “green” technologies that will lower costs and protect our environment. As an innovative leader on so many fronts, the U.S. should be doing more to create incentives for the development of cutting-edge technologies to foster the growth of green energy and consumption.

I support tax incentives for companies that are developing environmentally friendly, fiscally responsible anti-pollution technologies, as well as legislation that will foster partnerships between universities and businesses to collaborate on creating models for providing cost effective and efficient conversion to cleaner technology.

Energy Policy

Our country as become overly reliant on many non-sustainable forms of energy, which has put the U.S. at the mercy of foreign interests. It is prudent to identify the extent of our national oil capacity and investigate our abilities to plan for its extraction, but it is equally important to develop other resources.

Immediate drilling for domestic oil will guarantee the faster depletion of our own reserves, leaving us with a larger dependence on foreign oil and foreign countries in the future. I believe the only way to insure our future energy supply is by protecting our own oil reserves and increasing our share of alternative power opportunities.

Domestic-Only Cap and Trade

I support a free-market approach for reducing pollution and rewarding environmental innovation. The implementation of a domestic-only cap and trade system would foster competition and growth in new technologies by comparing American corporations to each other on a specific industry-to-industry and region-to-region basis and ensuring a level playing field.