Question #1. Flooding is one of the most serious environmental issues facing West Virginians. In 2023, the Legislature created a Flood Resiliency Trust Fund to enhance flood prevention and protection, using primarily nature-based solutions and concentrating in low-income areas. For many years, this Trust Fund was unfunded. In 2026, the Legislature approved $5 million for the Trust Fund, which CWV believes is wholly inadequate. Will you support dedicated, ongoing state funding for flood resilience and oppose efforts to weaken or divert those funds?

Yes. I believe it the Flood Resiliency Trust Fund should have been funded at $250 million as first proposed.  Each time it got closer to a vote, the amount of the fund went down.  $5 million isn’t enough to actually make significant changes to protect our people, let alone the environment.  It’s like they want have credit for doing something (passing the legislation) without, in fact, doing it (taking action by making improvements).

Question #2. During the 2026 session, legislation was introduced to establish a community solar pilot program (HB 4111). This legislation would have made it possible for low-income consumers, and people whose homes do not permit rooftop solar panels, to share in the reduced cost of electricity generated from a central, local solar facility. If similar legislation is proposed in 2027, will you support it?

Yes. I would absolutely support this.  I have solar panels on my own roof, made possible by federal aid that was stripped away when the current administration took power.  They do not approve of green energy.  In my district solar power is not popular, because many farms have sold their land and been covered by solar panels, costing our people our farmland.   The power generated by these solar farms might be better accepted if it was used in West Virginia and brought our electric bills (which are very high) down.  This is not the case however.  All the energy generated by these solar farms goes to Northern Virginia Data Centers.  If we want solar to be popular here in West Virginia, which I do, we need to find benefits for our communities.  We need to seen electricity costs go down.  We need to stop taking up farmland and start building solar on roofs and over parking lots (where they could provide shade).  We need to employ West Virginians in maintaining them.  If we can create the means for low income people to lower their power bills, that would be fantastic.  We just have to approach it carefully because so many people here feel that they have been hurt by the solar industry.

Question #3. Water quality is an issue that is of great concern to all West Virginia citizens. It has been reported that this state has some of the worst drinking water violation rates and the poorest drinking water quality in the United States. Will you support legislation that funds drinking water infrastructure improvement?

Yes. Absolutely. In my district, our aging pipelines and wells are so bad that many wells are no longer usable and we see new wells being dug at an unsustainable rate.  We have lots of new housing going up and the water table is dropping.  Older homes rely on old wells and corroded pipes and poor people cannot afford to replace them.

Question #4. West Virginia has experienced major drinking water crises linked to above-ground storage tanks. Do you support maintaining or strengthening inspection and safety requirements for these tanks to protect public drinking water?

Yes. Without blaming the party in charge, there seems to be a definite trend in the state legislature to remove every above ground storage safety measure currently in place.  We will soon be at risk of having the same kind of accident we had about 10 years ago.  We need more people in the legislature who care about our drinking water.  We need more, not fewer inspections  and safety standards.

Question #5. Methane is often leaked from improperly maintained, orphaned or abandoned gas wells. It is the most potent greenhouse gas known, can contaminate groundwater, and be hazardous to local residents. During the 2026 session, legislation was proposed (HB 5414, HB 5415) that would prevent future orphan gas and oil wells by requiring an operator to post a bond sufficient to cover the full cost of plugging, or to pay production-based amounts into an escrow fund sufficient to plug the well at the end of its useful life. If similar legislation is introduced in 2027, will you support it?

Yes. West Virginia powers 91% of its electricity on coal, but natural gas is still a major player.  We need to ensure it’s regulated and abandoned wells do not pollute the environment.  We have enough issues with the coal mines destroying our world.  We can’t afford to have gas do it too.

Question #6. Large solar generating arrays are often located on farmland. Will you support incentives and permitting reforms that encourage large solar to be sited on brownfields/degraded or previously mined/industrial lands, to help West Virginia protect prime farmland and intact forests?

Yes. Of course.  Please read my answer to question #2.  Solar fields covering farmland is a real sore point in this area, especially because the electricity they generate all goes to Virginia and we get no benefits from it.  Locating the solar fields over brownfields or other compromised land would be great.  I would support locating them over parking lots to provide shade while we shop or go to work/school. I would support them over large buildings such as schools and shopping centers as well.  Or high enough over ranches that farm animals can still graze the land, and benefit from the shade.

Question #7. Currently, West Virginians have no local control through their municipal or county governments over the siting, construction, operation, water use, or environmental compliance of micro-grids and data centers. Will you support legislation to restore local control over these factors?

Yes. Absolutely. I would like to repeal HB2014 AND create laws about the data centers that are placed in our localities.  They must use closed loop water systems and be constrained to surface water only.

Question #8. During the 2026 session, legislation was introduced that would have protected private wells, and controlled groundwater and aquifer depletion by data centers and other industrial development (HB 4683). If similar legislation is introduced in 2027, will you support it?

Yes. It’s necessary. I also think it has a much better chance of passing this year than last because there are so many people up in arms about this subject.

Question #9. West Virginia leads the nation in deer/vehicle collisions, killing over 10,000 deer and creating property damage and risk to human life. Highway fencing and the construction of wildlife under- and overpasses dramatically reduce this needless damage and risk. If legislation is proposed in 2027 to study the feasibility of wildlife crossing corridors in high-risk areas, will you support it?

Yes.

Question #10. In the last several sessions, legislation has been introduced that would have opened West Virginia state parks and forests to development, thereby changing their character. This legislation included opening these protected areas to motorized vehicles and developing them for commercial use. If similar legislation is introduced in 2027, will you oppose it?

Yes. Our parks are beautiful.  Parks are one of the few places where West Virginia excels.  We must protect them.

Question #11. Why should West Virginia voters concerned about the effects of climate change, such as destructive storms that can cause flooding, and environmental pollution on their daily lives choose you over your opponent?

I have worked on protecting the environment my entire life.  As a kid I joined Greenpeace and was a junior ranger.  I joined the Peace Corps straight out of college and worked for years on sustainable water and sanitation in Africa.  I worked for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) for 30 years.  I’ve done trail work including working vacations with the American Hiking Society and lead kayak trips collecting trash every summer.  My opponent has done nothing like that.  He has voted to remove safety and environmental protections every chance he’s had.  I live on the Potomac River and it floods and covers my road multiple times a year.  I personally cannot afford to sit back and watch the climate change without doing whatever I can to prevent it.  He’s rich and lives on a mountain.  He wrote legislation to hurt electric vehicles and alternative fuel vehicles.  He voted for a law that said data centers only get certain tax breaks if 80% of the electricity they use if fueled by coal.  He doesn’t care about climate change.

Question #12. If the greenhouse gas emissions from the burning of fossil fuels by electric utilities must be reduced, what is the best way to do this while still supporting fossil-fuel workers and communities?

Every coal burning plant that ages out needs to be replaced by something.  Coal miners and employees of electricity generating plants need to be provided with training to do comparable jobs in the new plants.  They not only need the schooling, they need the paid time off to take the classes and earn the certifications.  They need to have health insurance and other benefits continue while they are learning.  They need to not lose out while their income source changes.

Question #13. Suppose an industrial development is proposed for your district. Promises of jobs are made in support, but you have doubts about how many and what types of jobs would actually result. Environmentalists oppose the development, citing concerns about harm to water resources, but you have doubts about how serious the harm would really be. How would you resolve these doubts on both sides? To whom would you listen?

Sounds like you’re describing the data centers that are coming to WV.  There are a lot of things being said on both sides.  I go to all the informational meetings (from both sides) and compare what they say to credible scientific studies and accounts about what communities outside of West Virginia have experienced.  I also read the laws, which are very different here than in neighboring Virginia and Maryland.  We have far less regulation or local control.  We lack inspections.  We have a water shortage and a lack of sufficient, existing, electrical generation.  We don’t have a poorer state right next door where we can generate power for our needs.  Our power must come from here.