| David Weiss on Energy & Jobs
This is David Weiss's number one issue, but it does not in any way make him a one-issue candidate. Senator Breslin has written him off as such many times before. But as President of New York Farmer's Wind Power LLC and the partner in the successful Minnesota project for the legislation proposed below, David Weiss has enormous credibility and displays great passion on this important and all-encompassing issue.
One of David's greatest strengths is his ability to provide creative solutions. He has been working in the field of renewable energy since the 1970s, so he understands this hot topic and how it relates to many facets of our lives. For example, the key to so many of the puzzles facing New Yorkers is to create community-owned energy projects. The first step to this solution is pass C-BED (Community-Based Energy Development) legislation in NYS. Simultaneously, New York must become the leader of renewable energy product manufacturing. This issue brings labor, business, community, and education together as partners in the new industrial revolution. A green economy means investing in the backbone of New York's labor force: workers with more than high school diploma but less than a four-year degree.
The impact is far-reaching:
Economic Development - I propose The New York Green Jobs Fund to secure high paying renewable energy jobs using skills already present in the local population. The labor force necessary for manufacturing wind turbine blades, for example, is not the specialized one needed for high tech jobs. To grow our economy we need to green our economy in all areas, including energy production, agriculture, and advanced manufacturing. The economic promise of clean renewable energy puts jobs at the heart of the conversation.
Energy Independence - Not only must we harvest domestic energy, we need to own the means of production. The war in Iraq makes clear the cost of continuing to rely on foreign fossil fuels: too expensive and too deadly. In addition, the manufacturing of renewable energy products is being dominated by countries from China to India to Denmark. Amazingly, the US is becoming increasingly more energy-dependent. We can reduce this trend by decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels in general and increasing our capacity to produce our own solar, wind, biomass, hydro, etc. based-energy, and by demanding that means of production stay here - in NYS! One success story: after the fall of the Berlin Wall, the former East Germany focused on producing solar panels and created 20,000 new jobs.
Reduced Local Taxes - Home-grown energy yields revenue that stays in our community and county coffers. When a farmer owns a wind farm, the community is home to a lucrative local business, benefiting the farmer and the local tax base.
Public Education - Depending on their physical location, public schools are good candidates for renewable energy projects, which could take the form of solar roof tops, geothermal, or utility-scale windmills. When schools create their own electricity, tax dollars are reduced and money is freed up to get on with the business of educating children.
A Cleaner Environment- Coal, nuclear, and oil destroy our environment. If we stress conservation and develop clean, renewable energy, our children and grandchildren will be able to thrive on this precious planet we call home.
Preservation of NYS farmland - Farming is NY's second-largest industry, producing revenue of $350 million a year. However, our family farms are at risk. The option of working with renewable energy production gives farmers an alternative to subdivision. Once farmland is gone, it is gone forever. We need to remember that rural America still provides our food.
Repealing the Rockefeller Drug Laws -These draconian laws cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars annually. Clearly, the laws should be reformed, but alternative employment must be offered to those the prison system now employs (and incarcerates). Green collar manufacturing jobs can provide the solution to this dilemma. Also, prisons can generate their own renewable energy or purchase it from local producers, saving additional taxpayer funds.
There's even more on the proposed New York Green Jobs Fund on David Weiss's website. It's refreshing to see a candidate actually present legislation during their campaign. David Weiss even goes so far as to link to C-BED's website so voters can see just how successful the legislation has been in other states. Here is a brief overview from that website that provides information in support of David's explanation:
C-BED is an organization of farmers and landowners, mainstreet businesses and bankers, wind developers and component fabricators, educators, renewable energy advocates, and other members of our local communities. We share a desire to develop renewable energy resources in a way that optimizes local economic development in the communities in which we live and work.
The mission of C-BED is to foster, promote, and secure, through all appropriate means, the local economic development and environmental benefits attached to renewable energy production facilities that are owned by ordinary members of local communities.
::
A May 2005 US Dept of Energy study showed that wind power brings higher direct economic benefits to local economies than any other form of new electricity, including from coal and natural gas.
A September 2004 US General Accounting Office study found that local ownership of wind systems generates an average of 2.3 times more jobs and 3.1 times more local dollar impact compared to "out of area" interests. For example, a single 40 MW project built in Pipestone County, Minnesota, would generate about $650,000 in new income for the county annually. In contrast, 20 locally owned projects at 2 MW each (40 MW total) would generate about $3.3 million annually in the same county.
David's position on this is not just some talking point or a part of a "comprehensive energy policy" too big to actually implement. It's a single piece of legislation that he has already worked on successfully in another state. As far as candidates for all offices in New York state go, nobody has more expertise, experience, or passion in renewable energy as David Weiss, a major prospect for progressive voters to support his campaign.
David Weiss on Reforming Albany
Just as David ties together the need to protect jobs, the environment, and our community's energy supply in one simple policy, he has put together a platform based on reforming Albany's dysfunctional government by tying together several issues to the need for that reform. And his website has more links for more information than any other candidate I've seen, including TrueMajority.com, SunlightNY.org, and DemocracyMatter.org to help inform voters of the issues as they learn about the candidate.
Here's what David Weiss believes about why Albany needs reform and just what kind of reforms it needs:
Albany is a dysfunctional mess because we lack transparency in our state government. State politicians make backroom deals without being held accountable (the "Three Men in a Room" syndrome.) There are numerous public authorities with their own secret budgets and secret meetings; they spend and borrow with abandon. There is no oversight.
David will fight to open the inner workings of government to its citizens. He will ensure that your elected officials are TRUE PUBLIC SERVANTS and not bought-and-sold elitists. Fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets, and building coalitions will be trademarks of David's performance in the Senate. As State Senator he will work closely with everyone who is dead serious about REAL change. This Senator's door will always be open to his constituents.
To assure that all New Yorkers are represented fairly, David supports:
Public financing of state elections
Independent, non-partisan redistricting
Enforcement of existing campaign finance laws and harsher penalties for violations
Ballot access laws which ensure that candidates placed on the ballot will be the voters' choice Rather than party leaders'
Removing the power of elected officials to make appointments to the Board of Elections
Implementation of election day registration
The use of paper ballots, which is cost effective and safeguards the will of the people.
The Weiss platform for reform doesn't stop there, and the "single-issue" myth is put to further rest as David Weiss presents his stances on education....
David will support legislation with the following considerations in mind:
A great education depends on talented teachers. To keep gifted teachers in NYS, we must increase their pay.
All children are entitled to superior early schooling and should have the opportunity to continue on through high school and college.
New York must close the achievement gap between students in affluent and impoverished districts.
All children must be provided with skills to compete in the new global economy.
All students deserve a safe place to learn.
A restructuring in the way schools are funded is essential.
...property taxes...
Over the past few years, property/school taxes have risen dramatically to pay for unfunded State and Federal mandates, such as "No Child Left Behind." The middle class, in addition to seniors and those on fixed incomes, are finding it increasingly difficult to pay their property taxes. We need to find alternatives to property-based school taxes.
For example:
The wealthiest New Yorkers, who have benefited most from tax breaks, must pay a fairer portion.
The STAR program should be refined so that both income and tax rate are considered in determining the rebate.
All new mandates must come with full funding, and existing mandates should be re-examined.
...and his support for a single-payer health care system.
Key Features of Single-Payer/Universal Health Care
Universal, Comprehensive Coverage - Only such coverage ensures access, avoids a two-class system, and minimizes expense
No out-of-pocket payments - Co-payments and deductibles are barriers to access, administratively unwieldy, and unnecessary for cost containment
Free Choice of Providers - Patients should be free to seek care from any licensed health care provider, without financial incentives or penalties
Public Accountability, Not Corporate Dictates - The public has an absolute right to democratically set overall health policies and priorities, but medical decisions must be made by patients and providers rather than dictated from afar. Market mechanisms principally empower employers and insurance bureaucrats pursuing narrow financial interests
Ban on For-Profit Health Care Providers - Profit seeking inevitably distorts care and diverts resources from patients to investors.
For progressives, the manner in which these positions are worded should be most telling. In fact, these aren't so much positions as they are passions. To hear David Weiss speak about the issues is something else entirely, and that will be captured as best I can in an upcoming interview similar to those I've posted on all the candidates in the 21st Congressional District primary.
Many of the best prospective reasons to vote for Weiss in the State Senate Primary reveal themselves as he canvasses door-to-door at an alarming pace. While it has gone completely un-reported, as a volunteer for both the Weiss campaign and a campaign for Congress, it is crystal clear that Weiss himself has kept up to pace in his grass-roots effort with those candidates. Neither of his opponents, either the Conservative or the incumbent, have anything that even remotely resembles grass-roots campaigning. David Weiss has said that this kind of outreach will continue when he serves as State Senator and that another page will be added to his website if he wins: a page that goes into extensively detail on how to run against him.
That is how dedicated to democracy David Weiss is. That is why this is merely a guide that gives an overview of position statements; it is nowhere near the whole book. And the final prospect is that his candidacy, should it be successful, has the potential to completely change the dynamics of Democratic politics in Albany County as he will have defeated one-third of a ruling family that has exerted influence over the County for over a decade.
That change is most certainly for the better, whether you consider that ruling family heavenly or devilish. Because the prospects of a future State Senator David Weiss are just way too good for progressive Democrats to concentrate on the retrospective negatives of incumbent Senator Neil Breslin.
Soundpolitic Blogger's Note
You can view my Retrospective Voters Guide to Senator Neil Breslin, if you are interested. And if you missed the introduction to all three candidates and the atrocious lack of mainstream media coverage of the race, that is here. Stay tuned for an exclusive, extensive interview with David Weiss and reports on the campaign in the next two weeks leading up to primary day on Tuesday, September 9th. |
