Environmentalist Will Shafroth, who is running for the Democratic nomination in Colorado’s 2nd Congressional District, chatted with Denver Post readers on Tuesday, July 15. Following is a transcript of the chat.
Dan Haley: Welcome everyone to our noon chat with Will Shafroth. And thank you, Will, for joining us. Will will answer as many questions as he can. Keep your questions concise. So let’s get started.
Larry: Will why should I vote for you?
Will Shafroth: Larry, you should vote for me because I am the best candidate to bring real, honest change to Washington. I will be a champion for energy and the environment and I will represent everyday people, because I am one.
Larry: Where do you stand on the FISA vote?
Dan Haley: What sort of change are you talking about? How would you be different from the current representative, Mark Udall?
Will Shafroth: I opposed the measure that Congress passed last week because of the provision that provided blanket immunity for telecoms. While there are other pieces of the legislation that are improvement over today’s laws, I couldn’t support the telecom immunity.
Eddie: What’s your position on single-payer healthcare?
Will Shafroth: Dan, I respect and admire the kind of representative that Mark Udall has been, both in substance and in style. Like Mark, I have been successful in bringing people together from diverse interests to get things done – be they ranchers conservationists, business people
Will Shafroth: Dan, I think that the partisanship and bickering in Congress must make way for finding solutions to real problems that Americans face. I am not a partisan person and would work with whoever I must to get things done.
Larry: What can we do about the mess called No Child Left Behind?
Will Shafroth: Eddie, my health care plan is very similar to Senator Obama’s plan, with a stronger emphasis on wellness and prevention. Every child in America deserves health care and I also support a Medicare-like plan for others who currently don’t have access to health care
Will Shafroth: I have made a pledge to the voters of the 2nd CD. When elected to Congress, I will refuse to take the taxpayer-funded, congressional health insurance Members of Congress receive-until Congress passes health care reform that gives every American access to affordable, quality health care.
Emily: I like Joan but yesterday she continuously didn’t answer a question about cyanide heap leach mining. I think it’s an enviro disaster and was disappointed in Joan. Where do you stand on it? And will you actually answer the question?
Eddie: But is your proposal to expand private health insurance, that has failed in my opinion, or a single-payer model that has been much more successful in other countries, compared to the millions left behind in the US?
Will Shafroth: Larry, No Child Left Behind was based on sound goals – that every child in America – no matter their skin color, family income level, or zip code – deserves a first class education. How the law has been administered and implemented has been a failure
Emily: Were any of the deals you worked on at the Colorado conservation trust under investigation by the state or federal government?
Will Shafroth: Larry, what I would do to reform NCLB is to have the federal government be a real resource to schools by providing them with funding for preschool and full day kindergarten so that all children can get off to a great start in school.
Will Shafroth: Emily, I am opposed to cyanide heap leach mining. It is very environmentally destructive and would threaten the beauty and environmental quality of our mountains in Colorado. I support the Summit County Commissioners’ stance in 2004 to ban that practice in Colorado
Dan Haley: What are the biggest differences between you and Joan and Jared? Can you answer the conservation trust question
Robert: Dude, you all say you are going to change the world on day one. Congress is a meat grinder on idealism. Can you really make a difference as a freshman?
Will Shafroth: Eddie, My proposal will expand the government’s role in providing health care to all Americans. By doing so, we will increase competition with private health care providers and bring down costs. I also support giving Medicare the authority to negotiate with the pharmaceuticals to lower drug costs.
Eddie: but you don’t favor single payer universal healthcare?
Art: You obviously have a lot of credentials as an environmentalist, however with the collapse of banks in California and Freddie & Fannie in disarry it seems like the economy is foremost on peoples minds. What qualifications do you bring to address the very real economic concerns Coloradoans face
Will Shafroth: Sue, No, the Colorado Conservation Trust (CCT) doesn’t hold conservation easements, so it doesn’t have any deals under investigation. Most of the abuses that are under investigation could have been prevented if the Department of Revenue had taken the recommendations that CCT made in 2005
Will Shafroth: Sue, Had the Department of Revenue done what has been standard practice at GOCO since 1994 – conducting review appraisals on the projects it funds – then people attempting to inflate the value of easements would have been stopped years ago
Will Shafroth: Dan, I have the strongest track record on and commitment to working with diverse parties to get things done. I will be the one to continue the strong legacy of leadership on energy and the environment of Wirth, Skaggs, and Udall, that is important not only to Colorado, but to the whole USA
Art: So wait – when & why did the Dep’t of Revenue change its standard practice of reviewing the easements? Couldn’t GOCO have spoken out about this?
Will Shafroth: Dan, I also am the person best able to relate to the people of the 2nd CD. We have three children, two in public high school and all headed towards college. We have been paying a mortgage for 23 years and are on COBRA for our health insurance. We have aging parents with health issues.
Will Shafroth: Dan, I think if you are going to represent the people of the 2nd CD, it really helps to be able to relate to them on a personal, human level. I will not be someone who goes to Washington and loses touch with the people of the 2nd CD
Will Shafroth: David, Did I get your question answered?
David: yes thanks
Caroline: Will, thanks for participating in this, do you favor now or have you ever favored offshore drilling?
Will Shafroth: Robert, Absolutely I can make a difference as a freshman. Ed Perlmutter, just in office a few months last year, got an appropriation for the National Renewable Energy Lab in his district because he made it his priority. Given my 28 year career in conservation and energy .
Will Shafroth: Robert, I will be able to hit the ground running on those issues and take up where Mark Udall has left off in the House on issues like renewable energy, Rocky Mountain National Park, and fighting drilling on the Roan Plateau.
Will Shafroth: Art, I bring my own experience as someone who has been working for 28 years, paying a mortgage, saving for my kids’ college education, helping my aging mother, and setting aside money for our retirement. Beyond that, I have pulled together a team of people who
Will Shafroth: Art, the team of people who are very smart and experienced on economic issues. I am a good listener and a quick study and will make sure that I take into account the diversity of viewpoints on where to go with economic policy. A few ideas include
Will Shafroth: We need to bring fiscal responsibility back to Washington by ending the $450 billion deficits and lowering the $9.5 trillion debt. I support PAYGO, ending the war in Iraq, and the tax cuts for the top 1%. We need to restore investor confidence, both here and around the world.
Will Shafroth: Caroline, I am not in favor of lifting the congressional ban on offshore oil drilling. When seventy-six percent of the off-shore leases have not been drilled, our problem is not a shortage of leases, it’s a shortage of production. More leasing will do nothing to reduce gas prices at the pump.
Dan Haley:What role should nuclear play in our energy future?
Art: What about GOCO and the Dep’t of Revenue investigations – could you address that question please – when & why did the Dep’t of Revenue change its standard practice of reviewing the easements? Couldn’t GOCO have provided leadership on this issue?
Caroline: Thanks Will, so should we have more pipelines built to help production?
Will Shafroth: Caroline, we are not going to drill our way to energy independence, either off shore or in western Colorado. I believe that be best and most cost-effective way to reduce our use fossil fuels is through energy conservation and efficiency and fully supporting renewable energy.
Caroline and has that always been your position?
Robert: I have to admit I like Skaggs and Udall (too young to remember Wirth). Why are you best to fill their shoes (or is it boots
Will Shafroth: Nuclear energy currently provides about 20% of our electrical generation needs for our country. Nuclear energy relies on heavy government subsidies and produces waste that we haven’t figured out how to dispose of safely. It also requires a very carbon intensive process to mine and refine uranium
Will Shafroth: Dan, Therefore, I don’t see nuclear playing a large role in our energy future. I think investments in renewables are a much better investment, economically and environmentally.
Dan Haley: Will, renewables have required a certain amount of subsidies, or investment, as well but I digress…. Any last questions for Mr. Shafroth? We’re just about out of time.
James: Will, what one project best exemplifies your work in conservation?
Will Shafroth: Robert, I think I’m best to fill their boots/shoes because I will continue their strong legacy of leadership on energy and the environment at this critical time in our history. I would be the first professional conservationist ever elected to Congress.
Will Shafroth: Robert, I am also deeply committed, as are Mark and David, to working with Republicans and Democrats, conservatives and liberals and independents to develop solutions to the problems we face as individuals and as a nation. I’ve always worked that way.
Will Shafroth: James, I think the Greenland Ranch, the keystone property in the 30,000 acre conservation project south of Castle Rock – including 12 miles of I-25 – is the one I would pick. It required me to bring together people from very different perspectives to get it done.
Dan Haley: Our time is up. Thanks to everyone who joined us and a special thanks to Mr. Shafroth for taking time out of his busy campaign schedule to chat with us. Come back tomorrow at noon to chat with Jared Polis. Thanks
Will Shafroth: James, It also is a great and tangible legacy for the state of Colorado, that will always ensure that Denver and Colorado Springs do not grow together, like so many places in southern California
Will Shafroth: Thank you very much everyone and thank you Dan.
Editor’s note: Jared Polis will chat with readers at noon Wednesday. Go to denverpost.com/opinion to join the chat live.
