I am a retired engineer and citizen of Pinardville/Goffstown. I know it is hard to know who to believe with all the allegations and counter allegations, spin, and half-truths to sift through. So I ask you to look for truth in your own lives. There is nothing more important than clean air, fresh water, uncontaminated soil, and a healthy environment. I believe we all can agree on this. Yet when I look around, I see these precious resources being compromised every day. It’s time to seriously address these issues. That is why I am running for State Representative.
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Water: Mercury from local and midwestern power plants is traveling from their smoke stacks into our rivers and streams. The NH Dept of Health has warned pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children to drastically limit their consumption of fish from NH waters. 40,000 of our private wells, including several in the Goffstown area test positive for MtBE. 15% of our public water supply is also contaminated. I will support legislation to protect ground water within NH and to prepare a statewide water use strategy to preserve this vital resource for our grandchildren’s grandchildren and not allow it to be spoiled for short term gain or sold off overseas.

Soil: NH has 19 toxic waste sites on the now-defunded Superfund list. The Federal Government is content to let the taxpayers of NH pay to clean up these sites. I want to make the polluters pay for the cleanup. I will support legislation granting local control over the siting of sludge or other undesirable land uses.

Air: An estimated 67 NH residents die prematurely every year because of air pollution. Thousands of our children suffer from asthma that can be traced to air pollution. I will support legislation to stop air pollution at its source.

Health care must be made affordable to all. It is a right not a privilege reserved for those who can pay. 125,000 NH families have no health insurance. Even people with employer-sponsored plans have seen their out-of-pocket costs rise. Health insurance premiums have risen 49% in the last 3 years. A small business can see its premiums skyrocket if one of its employees gets cancer or has a heart attack. I want to bring back community based pricing so that premiums are based on the experience of the entire community, not just the employees of one company. I want to open up the market to Canada to make prescription drugs more affordable so that no one in NH will have to choose between food and medicine.

Employment:
I believe that there should be a living wage job for everyone who is willing to work. In the last three years New Hampshire has lost 26,600 manufacturing jobs, that is nearly 1 out of 4 of its manufacturing jobs, more than any other state in the nation. These jobs are being replaced by low-paying service jobs. Certainly, our own state government should not be outsourcing jobs paid for with our tax money. Tax breaks must target the businesses that will keep our jobs here at home and not set up shop offshore to avoid taxes or send our jobs overseas.

Education:
A quality education provided by well-paid teachers must be made available to all students willing to study. Kindergarten needs to become a reality in our community.

I want to leave a better world to my grandchildren than the one I received.
By mlt145 at 10/06/2004 - 8:01pm