| Q: What specific projects are you looking at for the 102nd AD in the short and long-term?
SMITH: First, we need to encourage new companies to come here and settle in our district. Recently, Atlantis, a new PV manufacturing company settled in Poughkeepsie because of grant opportunities. We need more of these companies to come here and should therefore offer incentives to make it happen. We can also provide assistance for municipal buildings and schools to install PV panels on their roofs and require new government buildings to have energy efficient technologies like geothermal. 87% of New York's energy comes from outside the state. That translates to $30.5 billion leaving the state per year. By installing these technologies on local buildings we can start to create our own energy here and in the process create 40% more jobs per dollar invested than dirty energy technologies.
In the long term, I will fight for universal healthcare and more state funding for education. Our healthcare and education infrastructures are failing and we must address these issues as quickly as possible.
Q: A follow up to that last answer: One of the tools to bring businesses to NY has been the Empire Zone program. How would we bring renewable energy companies to NY and provide them incentives to come here while bringing accountability and reform to the Empire Zone program?
SMITH: Whatever resources we put towards the Empire Zone Programs need to have stringent oversight to ensure that beneficiaries stick to their promises of revitalizing local economies and use union contractors where possible. IDA reform is a crucial issue in New York as the potential for corruption is very real.
Q: How do you like your chances to win election?
SMITH: People have been responding to our positive message of substantive change. We have a very large volunteer base with over 100 active supporters and the support from labor organizations and othe non-profits has been astounding. We also have the resources and the team to win. We have raised over $170,000 in this race and our team includes veteran campaigners from John Hall's team in 2006 and other state races. I am confident that we have what we need to beat a 14 year Republican incumbent.
Finally, here is the speech given today by Smith regarding the new energy economy.
As winter approaches many of us are thinking about the challenges that lie ahead. With the cost of heating oil on an exponential rise residents of Dutchess County are wondering if they will have to choose between heating their homes and feeding their families. There is no doubt that we face very significant challenges because of this economic downturn but we also have tremendous opportunities for growth.
Since 2000, 200,000 manufacturing jobs have left the state.These jobs have been replaced by lower paying service jobs that leave workers without health care and without a retirement plan. Companies, like IBM, are outsourcing high-tech jobs, while America loses its technological edge.
Meanwhile, prices for basic goods continue to skyrocket and it costs nearly four times as much to get to work as it did eight years ago.Working families are trying to juggle outrageous heating bills, expensive and inadequate health care and property taxes that are disconnected from what residents can actually afford to pay.
Right now we import 89% of our energy from out of state.That means that more than $30 billion leaves our state every year. This is an unworkable economic model that is slowly bankrupting New York while oil companies post record profits and foreign countries use our money to buy everything they can lay their hands on.
In Washington our government's energy plan has been hijacked by oil companies and corporate interests that fear new ideas. In Albany, our representatives have felt no rush to come up with solutions to the problems we face, always claiming it is someone else's fault or responsibility.
But if we have the courage to lead there is tremendous opportunity available to us. If we start today we can make the Hudson Valley a leader in the new energy economy, creating good jobs in our area and lower energy prices. We can build wind farms to power our cities and solar panels to power our buildings. We can grow switch grass to fuel our cars and use geothermal energy to heat our homes. All of these technologies are available to us now, they are renewable, and all of them are clean. But not only that - the solar panels and wind turbines that we build here in the Hudson Valley will be sold and used in other areas of the country and in other countries around the world and the money that these sales bring in will revitalize our local economies.
Our energy and economic policies should not be based on quick fixes and political expediency. We need a comprehensive plan that will encourage local jobs, long range growth and promote the use of renewable energy. With the new energy economy we will create an economic framework that will sustain and grow our community for years to come.
Working together we can make this plan a reality, but we must have leadership in Albany that will fight for these important values and proposals. With your support I will fight everyday to build a better economic future for New York. I hope that you will join me and together we will turn ourstate around.
You can read more about Jonathan and his stances on key issues here. |
