Issue Position: Environment

Issue Position

I am a conservationist, I believe we need to strive for a clean, healthy and sustainable environment. We must preserve and improve the state of our environment to pass on to future generations. Growing up in rural Minnesota, I remember the river that flowed past our farm was so polluted we were not supposed to eat the fish from there or go swimming. We had cities upstream dumping raw sewage and other chemicals without concern of the impact. Over the past 40 years we have cleaned up many of our beautiful natural resources here in Minnesota and I am proud of what we have accomplished in that time. With that said, regulations need to take into account economic impact as well as personal property rights. Too many regulations coming out of St. Paul have minimal or no input of the rural stakeholders, and too much input from environmental activists that live near our states tallest buildings. This "one size fits all" approach will not work in a diverse state such as ours. I will work with local governments, farmers, citizen conservation groups and local businesses to ensure "solutions" coming from St. Paul will work in our part of the state.

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