Andrew Bartleson
No Party PreferenceQ1 America has a growing artificial intelligence (AI) industry, supporting cutting edge innovation and reshaping businesses, but raising concerns about education, ownership, and security. Application of AI technology has increased the demand placed on data centers, controversial for their resource use (such as water and land) and raising utility costs. What are your policy positions in regards to data centers and AI? What sources of evidence informed these policies?
AI funding & subsidizing is not the responsibility of the people. Residential water consumption is less than 8% of the total, yet the people are continually told to cut their consumption, while government enables water siphoning data centers. They need to pay for & develop water treatment & recycling facilities at their own cost. The people have plenty of energy, the data centers/AI need greater capacity, that is their responsibility to fund & obtain. Perhaps they should be persuaded to find creative means of doing so that will limit their environmental impact. The internet is the greatest repository of information in human history, unfortunately malign forces have used it to distort reality and manipulate fact/fiction, AI will further erode public trust in factual information as corporations pay to have their info gathered & summarized by AI.
KEYWORDS: Regulation & oversight!
Q2 What are your top funding priorities for environmental projects and research in our state? If you do not have specific priorities, how would you approach setting those priorities to ensure effective environmental stewardship?
First off, we have to reframe the messaging. We always direct environmental responsibility at the individual. Yes, we should all do our part, but the greatest damage was done by large corporations. Disincentivizing their continued degradation of the environment must be prioritized. A fully funded EPA that is an actual protector of the environment. Fund research projects and education with the $250+ billion spent on corporate welfare each year. We have all the funding necessary to help the next generation clean up the mess they were left, but first our government must begin looking out for the people’s interest, not corporate interests! Our Supreme Court just accountability for Bayer/Montesano poisoning of countless people on the basis the EPA didn’t require them to warn of cancer causing agents in Roundup. What the EPA required should be irrelevant; Bayer/Montesano being aware is the pertinent fact!
KEYWORDS: Corporations pollute with relative impunity!
Q3 What are your opinions on the current state of science literacy, and how could K-12 education standards be adapted to improve the public understanding of and relationship building in science?
The state of science literacy is sad. Chemistry is amazing. The way every known and undiscovered element lines up in the periodic table of elements, molarity, covalent bonds, half-life, osmosis, sublimation, all that stuff is so cool when you understand it. Unfortunately the math skills of young folk is not up to par, and you can’t keep up in science class w/o adequate math skills. Labs make people of all ages interested in science. We have a $7 trillion federal budget, we can fund science in schools! Again, $250 billion in corporate welfare is enough to cover the undergraduate tuition of every student at a public university ($150 billion) and there’d be $100 billion left over that could be used to double what is allocated to K-12 education. An educated society benefits all, including the corporations needing skilled workers.
KEYWORDS: Fund education, not corporate welfare!
Q4 The Bear Gulch Fire, one of 2000 recorded fires in 2025, was the biggest on the Olympic Peninsula in 70 years, burning over 20,000 hectares and causing $42 million in damages. What are your policies around fire risk management for the state?
The environmental changes we’re seeing causes stress on our forests, which leads to greater susceptibility to damage by increasing amounts of pests. We’ve allowed invasive plants to run roughshod. The amount of dead dry plant matter is increasing. Prescribed controlled burns facilitate the cycle of life & reduce the likelihood of catastrophic fires. We need to research which trees/vegetation will be unable to thrive under current conditions, and adapt reforestation efforts accordingly. Utilities must find ways to reduce how susceptible their power lines are to causing fires during windstorms.
KEYWORDS: Kindling fuels forest fires.
Q6 In 2021, the WA legislature passed the Climate Commitment Act, which has helped to reduce carbon pollution, but puts extra economic burden on farmers and agricultural distributors in the state. What policies would you support, if any, for helping farmers and distributors balance these costs while maintaining Washington’s commitment to environmental sustainability?
Agricultural emissions were excluded. So the burden would appear to primarily fall on small and midsize farms, since they don’t have purchasing power to purchase wholesale and benefit from the exclusion. When buying retail, the costs are always passed along to the consumer. Assisting in the formation of coops that enable smaller farms to obtain the same benefits of purchasing power is a start. Writing legislation in ways that are not designed, explicitly or implicitly, to benefit the largest 20% of agricultural operations is the only way to begin adjusting the playing field and easing the stress on family farms. The farmers need to do their part by ensuring ag organization and lobbying is conducted on their behalf, rather than the benefit of largest farms.
KEYWORDS: Top 20% of farms receive 80% of the subsidies.