Michael McGarr
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?
AI will become a world-changing phenomenon, and America must be a contender in its development. Data centers are part of that, and their placement should be up to the states and communities where their impact will be felt the most. The federal government’s role should be to ensure the centers meet operational and environmental standards (so states won’t race to the bottom to attract them). One key source has been the Washington state “Data Center Workgroup: Preliminary Report.
KEYWORDS: humanity; environment; responsibility
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?
Funding for increased forest fire fighting; funding for renewable energy; funding for PFAS removal and remediation.
KEYWORDS: Climate; Energy; PFAS
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 don’t have children, so I don’t have an informed opinion on today’s education, but I believe very strongly that science is a key aspect of humanity’s development, both past and future, and I will do everything I can to support its being taught in K-12.
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?
Fire damage may be local, but its causes and effects can be felt halfway across the country, so the federal government must play a role in helping with managing the risk. As for which policies those would entail, I admit ignorance, but I would definitely consult with forest management experts both private and public before proposing any laws.”
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?
I haven’t studied this issue in depth, but I believe farmers and teachers are the two most important people in any society, and we should do all we can to support them. In this case, while I approve of the goal of reducing our carbon output, farming is a crucial segment of our society, so perhaps we could give them exemptions to the act, or subsidies to use in a “carbon trading” market.
KEYWORDS: exemptions, carbon trading