Clean air and clean water: A high-quality environment is vital for the health and well-being of ourselves, our families, and our future. Our current representative has not acted to protect the Great Lakes which risks our community's security, including our economy. I believe it is time to take responsibility for protecting our way of life.
Line 5 is a 63 year old privately owned Canadian pipeline, exposed in the Straits of Mackinac. University of Michigan has said this location is the worst possible place for an oil spill because of the currents of Lakes Michigan and Huron. I recognize this outdated pipeline as an imminent threat to the health of our families and the well-being of our small businesses, our property values and our entire way of life. As a State Representative, I would strongly support for Sen. Rick Jones' bipartisan legislation to shut down the pipeline and thoroughly address risk to public health and safety.
Updating our community's water system to ensure it is free of lead and other toxins is a top priority here where our infrastructure is aging. I do not believe in waiting for a catastrophe before we act to protect our children and our families, especially those most vulnerable like pregnant women, the elderly, and young children. I am committed to introducing a long-term plan to protect us all and modernize our infrastructure.
We need to guarantee our food is safe, but we know the fish we catch from our lakes, rivers and streams are not actually safe to eat. This is because of years of allowing contaminants to run off into our lakes, rivers and streams, and the fish end up with dangerous heavy metals in their systems that are unsafe for humans. I will introduce legislation to enact common sense protections for our lakes, rivers, streams and for human health.