Omaha World-Herald Student Voter\u2019s Guide Candidate Profile \u2013 2008<\/p>\n
Candidate Name: Steve Larrick<\/p>\n
Hometown: Lincoln, Nebraska<\/p>\n
Birth Date: June 5, 1952<\/p>\n
Party Affiliation: Nebraska Green Party<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Immediate Family: Wife – Janine Copple; One Son – Antony Larrick (19)<\/p>\n
Education: Graduate of Omaha Westside High School, 1970
\nBA degree in Economics, Grinnell College, 1974
\nMSc degree in Rural Sociology, University of Alberta, 1988<\/p>\n
Prior public offices held: Lower Platte South Natural Resource District (Elected Director, 2002 and 2006)<\/p>\n
Political Heroes: William Jennings Bryan, George Norris, Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n
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.\u00a0First 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.\u00a0I would support research for energy from wind, solar, and other renewable sources. I would support research for ethanol production from cellulose.\u00a0I support a national bottle bill to better recycle bottles and cans that currently end up in landfills or litter our countryside.\u00a0I would support research to develop electric cars and energy-efficient high-speed public rail service across the state of Nebraska.<\/p>\n
America would be far safer in the future if we avoided unnecessary wars like the war in Iraq.\u00a0There was no good reason to invade Iraq.\u00a0The occupation of Iraq is creating more enemies for the United States around the world.\u00a0We 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo Child Left Behind\u201d forces educational resources into the narrow goal of taking standardized tests rather than teaching students how to learn and think for themselves.\u00a0My 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.\u00a0We need to learn how to conserve our finite natural resources and make better use of our vast wealth of renewable energy resources.\u00a0Building and maintaining local renewable energy systems would create more job opportunities for our young people to stay and prosper in Nebraska.<\/p>\n
My top three priorities, if elected, are to:<\/p>\n
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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.\u00a0For more than 30 years the rich have been getting much richer while incomes for the middle and lower classes have stagnated and declined.\u00a0Taxes for the extremely rich have shrunk and now there is growing pressure from the rich to eliminate the Inheritance Tax.\u00a0It is time for the wealthiest to pay America back for the decades of benefits they are reaping from life in America.\u00a0If our wealthiest citizens are not willing to invest in America\u2019s future, this nation is in deep and growing trouble.<\/p>\n
I would redirect our nation\u2019s resources away from wars over oil toward employing our youth to develop community-based renewable energy systems right here in communities all across Nebraska.\u00a0We would employ large numbers of young people building and maintaining renewable energy systems and creating quality public transportation.\u00a0We would create cleaner, healthier environments than what have now while burning fossil fuels that cause pollution and climate-changing gases.\u00a0We need to support our youth in finding long-term solutions to our energy and environmental challenges.<\/p>\n
Our democracy is being corrupted by big money interests that put short-term profits ahead of the common good.\u00a0I 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.\u00a0I 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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Omaha World-Herald Student Voter\u2019s Guide Candidate Profile \u2013 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 … Continue reading Student Voters Guide (2008 election)<\/span>