Nate Kaplan on the Issues
Our Environment:
Nate Kaplan has been endorsed by the Massachusetts League of Environmental
Voters.
Nate Kaplan will protect our environment, our ecosystem and promote practical green energy in Central Massachusetts.
Our Workers:
Nate Kaplan has been endorsed by the AFL-CIO, Teamsters Local 170, Carpenters Local 107, Worcester Fitchburg Building Trades Council, SAGE Local 229, SEIU, and the Worcester Firefighters Local 1009 because he supports the rights of all hardworking families in Massachusetts.
Nate Kaplan supports the nurse staffing bill (H. 4988), which would allow the nursing community to more easily affect change in their respective field. Currently in Massachusetts, the patient to nurse ratio is an alarming 40:1, despite mandates that suggest a 20:1 ratio to ensure proper care in all cases. Nate understands that our nurses are over-worked, and need our state government´s support in the fight to promote holistic health throughout our community.
Our Children:
Nate Kaplan will always be an advocate for our children and our schools. He will fight to expand our curriculums, ensuring the education of the WHOLE child. Nate believes reinstating physical education, health, art, and music classes are integral to this process.
Second Ammendment
Nate Kaplan believes that law abiding citizens have the right to bear arms afforded and protected by the U.S. Constitution and the Second Amendment of the Bill of Rights. As a gun owner himself, Nate understands the importance of gun safety and the responsibility each and every gun carrier holds. Nate will be an advocate in our legislature to protect our basic freedom to possess and own firearms for competition, recreation, self-protection, and hunting.
Energy = Central Massachusetts² (E=CM²)
Our Energy can Raise Central Massachusetts to a
new Level
"Think globally, act locally." You have heard it before, and you will hear it again. Many of us in the 1st Worcester County District incorporate this slogan into our daily lives, whether through recycling, limiting our energy and water usage during summer months, or purchasing energy-efficient vehicles and appliances. However, we should have little faith in our current representative to support the expansion of renewable and alternative energy. We should also consider his dismal 47% average rating over the last three years by the Massachusetts Audubon Society, which is among the lowest in the entire State House.
I am consistently frustrated by the lack of effort put forth by our administration to reach any real and tangible reductions of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions. I am also appalled by Mitt Romney's attempts to roll back GHG-emission regulations to pre-2001 levels. In the midst of a world-wide debate placing blame for who is at fault when it comes to global warming and skyrocketing energy prices, our government is inconsistent when it comes to improving the quality of life for all.
Many would agree that environmental protection inevitably improves our quality of life, while promoting the prospect of a green energy market within Central Massachusetts. It is time for each and every one of us to stop casting stones. I invite you to take a deep breath and perceive the endless fruition of renewable energy as a treasure chest waiting to be opened, and Central Massachusetts holds the key. Below, I have outlined a few ways that I believe our Commonwealth could become more proactive in the field of renewable energy.
When listening to town administrators and renewable energy advocates on the local level, I hear that the lack of accessibility in both grant funding and actual alternative energy services is by far the greatest criticism when it comes to environmental issues. Government must serve as a catalyst for growth on both the supply and demand side of the equation. This is accomplished through the reduction of barriers to renewable energy development, offering more incentives for consumers on all levels to invest in alternative energies, and by hosting discussions and workshops in the region to promote practical "green" technologies. The Commonwealth must also serve as a prototype for the rest of the country through intelligent investment in energy efficient vehicles for the state fleet, and making an honest attempt to employ sustainable, efficient design and construction standards for our 5,000+ state owned buildings (92 million square feet), which occupy 556,000 acres of land.
Increased tax breaks for individuals and companies who decide to purchase hybrid vehicles, solar panels, and personal wind turbines are absolutely necessary and well-deserved for anyone who decides to invest in the future of energy. Greater funding devoted to the investment in Massachusetts' small businesses and schools to develop and produce clean technologies is also needed. Funding made possible with the combination of enhanced and transparent pollution reporting of CO2 emissions and the sales of pollution credits would enable innovative businesses to bring their product to market, and encourage our colleges, universities, and high schools in Central Massachusetts and throughout the Commonwealth to seek government grants for research and development in the field of renewable energy.
The Town of Princeton serves as a prime example of a coordinated effort to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and improve energy efficiency in the Commonwealth by harnessing the inexhaustible power of wind. Princeton voters approved the construction of two 230-foot wind turbines which will supply 40% of the energy for Princeton's nearly 4000 residents. Not only will this project displace 12,000 lbs. of CO2 and 66,000 lbs. of SO2, but the town will also reap the benefits of $20,000 in property tax revenue from the developer and $74,000 in revenue from the lease payments and the sale of pollution credits each year.
When a community decides to take on a monumental task, such as redefining its means of energy production, debate should be expected and encouraged, especially in the 119 of our 351 cities and towns that the state research has deemed to be economically viable sites for sustainable wind energy. Not only are we attempting to change the landscape of the international energy market, but of our hills, mountains and skylines of our very own district. These changes represent different things to different people. We must also remember that democracy was built on community discussion, and the thought that the government should act with the best-interest of its citizens in mind.
There is no substantive evidence that the Commonwealth is meeting its 2001 commitment to reduce GHG emissions to 1990 levels within the next 3.5 years. The Massachusetts Audubon Society ranks the voting record of our current state representative, Lew Evangelidis, amongst the poorest in the entire State House. A change is needed. It is time for all of us, Republican and Democrat, liberal and conservative, and the majority that falls between to strengthen Central Massachusetts for future generations. I will work hard, as your state representative, to bring this agenda to the forefront of our state government.
