David Hackney
DemocraticQ1 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?
My position on data centers is that we need to have a hard look at balancing the benefits and the harm. Yes, some new jobs are created while these data centers are being built, but after construction, they don’t provide a lot of jobs. And because they disproportionately take up water and electricity, they need to be regulated and pay their fair share for those extra costs. I listen to and learn from the Labor unions and the building trades.
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?
I will prioritize more battery storage. For clean energy that is intermittent, like solar or wind, we need to have the proper storage for when the sun isn’t shining or the wind not blowing. We also need more transmission lines, especially since the biggest source of energy is in Eastern WA but biggest need is in Western WA. I also support funding new technology like carbon capture and storage.
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?
I think we need more science literacy and the best way to teach school kids is to provide more hands-on and interactive lessons, where kids can experience science instead of just reading about it. We need to invest in more class fieldtrips to science centers, farms, labs, recycling facilities, aquariums, etc. These kinds of immersive experiences stick with growing minds and can spark a kid’s interests.
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?
We need to do better. These forest fires are very costly in both financial and physical damages. We need to invest more in managing the forests, removing the dead trees and the underbrush so we can manage the density of forests and mitigate the spread of fires.
Q5 Puget Sound and the Washington coast are experiencing rapid changes, such as warming waters, ocean acidification, and ecosystem shifts, that have major impacts on Washington’s wildlife and fisheries. What policies and funding, if any, would you prioritize for fisheries management, scientific monitoring, and to help communities adapt to these shifts?
I would prioritize funding that focuses on climate control admissions that destroy the ozone and cause global warming. I support the enforcement of making polluters accountable for the pollution they cause. Smokestacks put out harmful particles that cause acid rains. We need to address pollution in the air, water, and streams, we need to respect the fisheries. I support policies that invest in our fisheries to ensure that fish can migrate to where they need to do, like fish ladders.