Environmental issues dominate as congressional candidates debate at CSULB

Debate • Candidates for the 46th Congressional District held their first debate on campus yesterday, discussing issues such as Iraq war, environment, gas prices and global warming. Tracey Roman/Online Forty-Niner

By David Whisler
Online Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer

Environmental issues dominated as candidates for the 46th Congressional District held their first debate yesterday afternoon in the University Student Union.
Incumbent Republican Dana Rohrabacher, Libertarian candidate Keith Gann, Green Party candidate Tom Lash and Democrat Jim Brandt participated.

Brandt said in order to lessen U.S. dependence on oil, auto emissions must be controlled and money must be invested to find alternative fuel sources.

But Rohrabacher said the president has called for drilling in Alaska and harvesting other natural resources that would end our dependence on other countries, but he has been thwarted by Congress.

After being referred to as an environmentalist by the mediator, Lash said "anyone who breathes oxygen should be an environmentalist." He went on to invite his fellow panel members to carpool with him to the next debate.

Gann blamed pricing controls for the current gas shortage and said he did not believe the price was too high. He is in favor of Alaskan drilling. "The caribou can cope," he said.

The panel was torn on the issue of global warming.

Brandt and Lash agreed that it is an eminent threat, and measures should be taken to control it. Gann questioned its validity and stated that even if it is a real trend, any steps to curb it would not only be crippling to our economy, but would not make any difference. Rohrabacher called it a "plan by the left to raise our taxes."

Candidates also talked about the animosity of voters in the current election, education and the Patriot Act.

"It's up in the air," said CSULB senior Jeremy Jones, echoing the animosity concerns brought out in the debate. "I don't think we'll actually know who wins until a few weeks later."

On the issue of education, Brandt said that the No Child Left Behind legislation has not been a success. Gann expressed his desire to see schools privatized, comparing them to other municipal services such as trash collection or road work. Rohrabacher said he does not see a need for the federal government to be involved in local school issues at all. Lash said he would like to see some 700 military bases in 131 countries closed, and those funds diverted to provide health care and education for all Americans.

The Patriot Act proved to be a hot button issue with at least one candidate. Rohrabacher said some people feel that "all we have to do is join hands and sing Kum-bay-ah," to achieve peace, and those are the people who oppose the Patriot Act. Brandt said that the act distracts us from the issues at hand, while Gann sees it as a possible channel for further abuse of power. Lash evoked fear, citing the fact the act was signed at 3 a.m. and that none of the members voting had actually read it.

Fourth year computer science major, William Sanchez II, attended the debate to gather information befote the upcoming election. "There seems to be more hot air this year than ever before," he said.