Candidate for
State Representative; Pennsylvania State House of Representatives; District 93; Democratic Party

I am running because Pennsylvania is ready to move toward a 21st century renewable energy policy which will create jobs and revitalize the economy, end harmful pollution and stop the worst of global warming. We can restore funding for public education and healthcare by asking huge corporations to pay their fair share, and also lower property taxes at the same time. We can insist that Marcellus Shale gas drillers pay a severance tax as they do in other states, and ensure that our air and water is protected. We can bring back a true free market and help small businesses and renewable energy create jobs, instead of competing with subsidized corporations and fossil fuel companies. We can protect and expand the rights of all Pennsylvanians, including women and the LGBT community. We need politicians to fight for the middle class and the poor, the 99% who built America, and not just reward the corporate lobbyists.

More than ever, we need politicians to stand up and fight for our children and their planet, even when it's not popular. Global warming is causing extreme weather now, and by 2050 will cause a permanent American dustbowl. I am running because moving to renewable energy and stopping global warming is the most important issue of our time, and the political establishment is ignoring it. I am standing up for the children who will have to deal with the consequences. They are worth the fight.

I was a Navy weather forecaster for most of my career, and I retired intending to spend time in my garden and find a nice place to volunteer. I never expected to run for political office. Yet here I am, running again. How did this happen? The way I see it, a funny thing happened during my 27 years with the Navy. Politics, and politicians. went crazy. Corrupting corporate money seeped into the process and twisted our politics so much that logic, history and science are ignored in favor of narrow ideology and naked corporate interest.

I have a niece and nephew. They, and I'm guessing you, can't afford their own lobbyists. I owe it to them, and you, to try to fix the mess that's been created.

I am going to ignore political conventional wisdom. I will highlight the most important political issue of our time, one that is affecting us now and will be vividly evident in less than 40 years. Parents should be outraged at the risk we are taking with their children's future. Global warming is real, getting worse, and its much more than just hot summers. My experience as a Navy weather forecaster showed me the importance of looking at the data, and the global warming forecast is sobering.

Global warming and ocean acidification are not only happening, but they are happening more quickly than forecast, and they follow the WORST CASE SCENARIO. Global warming is a new Amercan dustbowl in just 40 years. Global warming is flooding rains at times, like York County and Glen Rock saw last year. Global warming will make it harder to grow food. Global warming makes the economy more uncertain, as we have to recover from more extreme weather disasters. Global warming means it will be more difficult for our children to feed themselves and make their way in the world. It gets worse for the grandchildren.

This must be part of our political discussion.