U.S. House Candidate Tamara Zwinak responds to North Carolina Science Debate

1) What are your top 3 scientific priorities for the upcoming year?

1) The coronavirus pandemic: Deliver a safe, accessible, affordable and effective vaccine and innovative ways to dispense the vaccine to 500 million people in 20-21. 2) Increase innovative ways to rapidly reduce CO2 emissions to reduce global warming; the death of coral reefs; forest fires; and droughts. 3) Innovations to bring sustainable packaging without petroleum based materials or styrofoam to market and rapid ways to capture and collect plastic waste in the oceans, streams and on land. 

 2) How do you plan to ensure access to COVID-19 testing, tracing, treatment, and personal protective equipment (PPE) for all North Carolinians, especially workers in the highest risk jobs?

By providing federal funds to the states to accomplish these tasks. 

 3) What is your strategy to mitigate infection risk in hot spots that contribute to community spread such as meat processing plants, nursing homes, and prisons? 

Strengthen unions and collective bargaining to make the safety of workers a top priority; to ensure adequate leave time, health benefits, and pay for employees when a plant, hospital or nursing home has an outbreak. Utilize temporary employment agencies to rapidly hire staff when staffing is short due to Covid-19 sick time. Mandate that employers test employees in high risk occupations. Mandate mask wearing. Provide sanitary washing stations. Ensure that all vendors are tested. Hold employers accountable by law for outbreaks. 

 4)  Scientific studies have shown that Black, Latinx, and Native American US residents are disproportionately affected by COVID-19. How do you plan to address the immediate crisis of those disproportiontely affected as well the systemic issues that this data has brought to light? 

This is a social justice issue that goes to the heart of my platform: Sustainability. We can't have a sustainable world, without equitable access to resources. The immediate crisis must be handled at the community level with an infusion of federal funds to all high risk communities, including but not limited to rural communities. The planning is best done by the communities who are empowered to implement intervention at the local level. The systemic issues of racism and inequality are best solved in a cooperative collaboration between, business, government, civic organizations, schools, healthcare systems, etc. at the local level. Issues have been identify, we now must take steps to make the changes. These are not new problems, so we must have the resolve to end systemic racism. 

 5)  How will you ensure that rural constituents maintain access to health care, given that many rural hospitals are facing financial hardship during the pandemic? 

Providing federal grants to ensure that critical medical services are available in rural communities is the best option. Local communities also need federal grants to ensure that public hospitals and clinics remain open in rural areas with competitive salaries to keep and attract doctors, nurses and social workers.

 6)  Would you support efforts to standardize requirements for factory farm animal waste management for all animal agricultural sectors in North Carolina? Why or why not? 

Yes, in collaboration with farmers, poultry, pork and meat plants. The waste from these production activities is harmful to the soil, water and air. In mass quantities this is an unsustainable process. My plan is to create the US Department of Sustainability to address these issue along with many others. The EPA will roll into this department. Any standardized requirements must meet sustainability standards and comport with the national sustainability plan. Small farms and plants will not be exempt. We are in an environmental emergency and the only way to end the crisis is with sustainable planning, now. 

 7)  North Carolina is threatened by rising seas and retreating shores, increasing hurricane intensity and flood risk, as well as increasing wildfire risk. What would you do to ensure the resiliency of NC communities and natural ecosystems, especially in low-income and coastal communities that are disproportionately threatened by these issues? 

 My plan includes the creation of the US Department of Sustainability. This department will include emergency management of the environmental emergency encompassing all of these issues. Every Federal level department will be involved in addressing the crisis in a coordinated, collaborative process. The only way out of this emergency is a National Sustainability Plan to coordinate all sectors of society to address the crisis and rapidly implement the plan.

8)  Do you support statewide efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and accelerate clean energy innovation, development, and deployment? Why or why not? 

Yes. My plan is much more comprehensive than this piecemeal approach. A National Sustainability Plan will address these issues along with the perfect storm that has been created by global warming; the death of coral reefs; massive deforestation disrupting natural habitats and spreading disease around the world; overpopulation and massive consumer waste that can't be recycled; along with overuse of petroleum based packaging that is chocking our marine life, polluting our streams, rivers and lakes, and entering our food stream causing potentially devastating disease in humans and animal life.

 9)  County spending ranges from only $434 per student to as much as $5,256 per student. What will you do to ensure equity and resource availability for students in underserved regions?

This is a state issue.

 10)  How will you cultivate a strong STEM workforce across the state, especially in key transition regions like rural areas? 

This is a state issue.

11)  How would you work to ensure North Carolinians have access to reliable and affordable water?

Water rights are controlled by private owners, the state and in some cases the federal government. One way to ensure access to reliable, clean and affordable water is to re-initiate the federal water-infrastructure funding bill for communities in need.

 12)  What steps would you take to help safeguard North Carolina's water resources against pollution or other threats?

A National Sustainability Plan. There is no secret about what needs to be done. We are in a global environmental emergency, and if we don't address these issues in a coordinated way, we aren't going to solves these problems. 

 13)  With schools relying more heavily on remote learning strategies during the pandemic, how will you help increase access to broadband internet for rural and low income populations?

Federal funding grants to the states. 

 14)  What are your transportation spending priorities, and how will you allocate funding across different transporation modes (roads, highways, bikeways, mass transit, walkways) in North Carolina?

A National Sustainability Plan.