A candidate forum in House District 38 covers issues like data centers and coastal flooding.
The Sussex County League of Women Voters event in Millville brought Republican Carlie Carey and Democrat Maureen Madden together to outline their positions to House District 38 voters
Delaware’s coastal communities have struggled recently with flooding and beach erosion. Federal funding that usually fuels beach and dune replenishment has been shaky, causing delays in those projects.
When asked about global warming and its effect on coastal issues, Madden says she wants the state to shrink its carbon footprint even more, adding she’s already taken steps in her personal life to do so.
“When we moved here, we specifically designed our house to be very carbon neutral. We have geothermal for our heat and air conditioning; we also have solar panels on our home.” she said.
Carey says more should be done at the local level to prevent flooding issues.
“I don’t think that we should say ‘flooding is a foregone conclusion, suck it up.’ But, I do think it’s going to be difficult to fix something that has been happening for a very, very long time.” she said.
And, many are wary of data centers because of their reputation for pollution and impact on energy prices. Carey says she shares those concerns.
“I think the smart answer is: there needs to be much more homework done on data centers. Because, unless you’re an expert, I don’t think you know all of the implications." she said.
Madden agrees, saying legislation often lags behind technology and has done so with data centers.
"Anything that is this large, this big, this fast; it needs to have regulation to control it and control it's effect on us." she said.
Both Madden and Carey suggest more measures should be introduced to keep the facilities from negatively impacting the communities they’re built in.
The winner of this race will replace Republican State Rep. Ronald Gray, who announced he would retire at the conclusion of his term.
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University of Delaware student journalist Andrew Hoffert contributed to this story.
He is a member of the UD Journalism/Delaware Public Media Midterm Election Coverage Team.
