Omaha World-Herald Student Voter’s Guide Candidate Profile – 2008

Candidate Name: Steve Larrick

Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska

Birth Date: June 5, 1952

Party Affiliation: Nebraska Green Party

Employment History: More than 25 years of Community & Economic Development experience with the Nebraska Department of Economic Development, the University of Nebraska, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, and other public service agencies.

Immediate Family: Wife – Janine Copple; One Son – Antony Larrick (19)

Education: Graduate of Omaha Westside High School, 1970
BA degree in Economics, Grinnell College, 1974
MSc degree in Rural Sociology, University of Alberta, 1988

Prior public offices held: Lower Platte South Natural Resource District (Elected Director, 2002 and 2006)

Political Heroes: William Jennings Bryan, George Norris, Martin Luther King, Jr.

1. What steps would you take to make us less dependent on foreign oil and to achieve more energy efficiency in the U.S.? What are your views on ethanol production?

We can afford greater energy conservation and renewable energy programs if we redirect spending away from wars for oil toward real long-term energy solutions. First and foremost, I would support energy conservation through greater energy efficiency standards for all vehicles and green building codes to consume less energy and protect citizens from high utility bills. I would support research for energy from wind, solar, and other renewable sources. I would support research for ethanol production from cellulose. I support a national bottle bill to better recycle bottles and cans that currently end up in landfills or litter our countryside. I would support research to develop electric cars and energy-efficient high-speed public rail service across the state of Nebraska.

2. After September 11, 2001 our nation has made public safety from terrorism a high priority. What do you consider the most important policies to keep America safe into the future?

America would be far safer in the future if we avoided unnecessary wars like the war in Iraq. There was no good reason to invade Iraq. The occupation of Iraq is creating more enemies for the United States around the world. We can keep America safer by supporting the United Nations and the global community in providing food for the hungry, housing for refugees, and health care and education for all. We can build a safer future for American by building a healthier global environment and a more just world where there are fewer reasons to fight wars.

3. There have been several important federal laws passed in recent years to improve our public education in America. What policies do you support that will improve K-12 public education in Nebraska?

“No Child Left Behind” forces educational resources into the narrow goal of taking standardized tests rather than teaching students how to learn and think for themselves. My highest educational priority is to support programs that teach students the science and art of reducing our dependence on oil and other fossil fuels by creating new forms of renewable energy from the sun, the wind, geothermal, and other renewable resources. We need to learn how to conserve our finite natural resources and make better use of our vast wealth of renewable energy resources. Building and maintaining local renewable energy systems would create more job opportunities for our young people to stay and prosper in Nebraska.

4. What are the top three priorities for you if you are elected?

My top three priorities, if elected, are to:

•  A)    BUILD A PEACEFUL WORLD by ending the U.S. occupation of Iraq as soon as possible and redirecting our national resources away from war-making toward peace-making and diplomacy throughout the world.
• B)     MOVE TO CLEAN, RENEWABLE ENERGY by redirecting our nation’s resources toward energy conservation and the development of clean, renewable energy systems from the sun, the wind, and other renewable sources.
• C)    HEALTH CARE FOR ALL by supporting universal single-payer health care and better protecting the natural environment from climate change through energy conservation, the development of renewable energy and public transportation.

 

5. It appears the younger generation will be called upon to shoulder a greater burden with regards to Social Security and Medicare. What are your thoughts on this issue?

We can reduce the tax burden on young people in the future by increasing the Social Security and Medicare taxes on our wealthiest citizens and by protecting the national Inheritance Tax. For more than 30 years the rich have been getting much richer while incomes for the middle and lower classes have stagnated and declined. Taxes for the extremely rich have shrunk and now there is growing pressure from the rich to eliminate the Inheritance Tax. It is time for the wealthiest to pay America back for the decades of benefits they are reaping from life in America. If our wealthiest citizens are not willing to invest in America’s future, this nation is in deep and growing trouble.

6. What would you do to improve the opportunity of young Nebraskans to stay in Nebraska?

I would redirect our nation’s resources away from wars over oil toward employing our youth to develop community-based renewable energy systems right here in communities all across Nebraska. We would employ large numbers of young people building and maintaining renewable energy systems and creating quality public transportation. We would create cleaner, healthier environments than what have now while burning fossil fuels that cause pollution and climate-changing gases. We need to support our youth in finding long-term solutions to our energy and environmental challenges.

7. Many young people have very limited understanding of the dynamics of politics and elective government. As the greatest democracy in the world, America needs each generation to step up. How would you help young people to appreciate and accept their civic responsibilities?

Our democracy is being corrupted by big money interests that put short-term profits ahead of the common good. I would help young people appreciate and accept their civic responsibility by emphasizing the need to develop a more Green economy to create wealth by building up our natural resources like soil and water rather than depleting our natural resources and causing pollution and climate-changing gases that threaten future generations. I would work to assure that all Americans have health care, education, and housing so our people have the basic resources to become healthy and productive contributors to the quality of life in the United States and the world.