Joe Fitzgibbon
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?
I support whistleblower protections for employees of AI companies; mandatory kill switches for AI programs and agents; and state sales taxes on AI services and products. Ultimately I believe states are not capable of providing the regulatory oversight that AI requires and I hope for Congress to pass a national regulatory package. As far as data centers, I believe they should be required to be powered by clean electricity, that other ratepayers should be protected from capital costs that are necessitated by data centers’ increase electrical loads, and that grid-provided power supplies to data centers should be interruptible (requiring them to utilize electricity stored in batteries) in case of electricity shortages.
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?
My top priorities for investing Climate Commitment Act dollars are to prioritize programs and projects that directly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, like electric vehicle incentives (for both passenger vehicles and freight vehicles), heat pump incentives, and decarbonizing large state buildings with district energy, geothermal, and other innovative strategies. I also support investing CCA dollars in natural climate solutions, like carbon sequestration in forests, wetlands, grasslands, and aquatic lands.
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 support incorporating up-to-date science standards, including climate science, in our K-12 curricula and standards.
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?
I have successfully advocated for Climate Commitment Act dollars to be invested in wildfire prevention, suppression, and response, and I prime sponsored legislation to facilitate wildfire prevention by making prescribed burns easier to permit. We should continue to invest in prevention, which is much cheaper than suppression.
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?
Scientific monitoring of fisheries has taken deep cuts in recent years because of where the Department of Fish & Wildlife has allocated across-the-board cuts they received from the Legislature. We should work in upcoming budgets to re-prioritize monitoring so DFW can do this work. Ultimately, staying ahead of warming waters and ocean acidification requires us to follow through on our commitments to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and showing other jurisdictions how this can be done.