1 — It certainly appears that Marcellus shale regulation will remain a major topic of interest for the next several years. What are the key features that you see need to be included in West Virginia law in order to best serve the interests of all the parties involved?



Well, time and timing. We’re the fourth largest, or fourth richest resource state in the union, but whenever that was coined, statistically, it was talking about natural resources that were non-renewable. It saddens myself, and it should sadden every West Virginian that we could be the fourth richest in the nation and still have the poverty we have and the low quality of life on so many levels on indexes that measured.

The Marcellus is certainly an opportunity, but once again, it is one of those non-renewable resources. Those non-renewable resources belong to every West Virginian, frankly. They should be compensated for it. Whether it’s because these extractive industries use our roadways, our railways, our waterways in order to market, we the people always pay for it.

It’s this constant, problematic template that is so pervasive today — privatizing profit and socializing debt for industry. Anytime there are these externalized cost factors, we the people end up paying for it. With regards to Marcellus, it’s like the coal. We should set the agenda. The people of West Virginia and our representatives should be protecting the public interest and safety and health but also setting the agenda for business. If we don’t act so quickly, we’ll make more solid decisions. I believe that there needs to be a moratorium, even though I jokingly say there is a moratorium with regards to Marcellus shale right now. The moratorium is on inspectors.

Right now, we have about 14 inspectors to inspect somewhere in the neighborhood of about 78,000 holes in the ground. Now, we’re talking... That’s absolutely impossible.

I believe there should be a moratorium on any new wells drilled until we have comprehensive health impact studies with regards to health impacts and hydrofracking. When you consider that three to seven million gallons of water are extracted from the state via Cheney’s energy meeting that took place behind closed doors that basically allows these industries, Haliburton, etc., to extract from a waterway any amount of water they want to. It’s unlimited and clear violations of the Clean Water Act and Safe Drinking Water Act. Sucking all of our resources — and water is our most valuable resource other than our people — and all aquatic life from a stream to pump into a well.

We’re talking about vast quantities of water, and less than 2 percent of water on planet Earth is even potentially potable drinking water. Whether we’re aborting water, life itself with mountaintop removal, shipping our coal to China, or whether we’re endangering water aquifers when one-third of West Virginians are still on well water with the hydrofracking and the hazardous materials that are involved including radioactive (materials)...

Then on the far end, we’re privatizing our public works all across the state, and in each case it’s the taxpayer and the public that’s paying the price. So, I’m in favor of a moratorium until there has been really solid study on the effects of this. That’s something that isn’t a missed opportunity. It’s actually a growing opportunity because that is a wise choice for West Virginia, one that we can take without being rushed into it.

The longer they can stay in the ground, those non-renewable resources, the more valuable they become. So, I’m in favor of that kind of moratorium instead of the kind of moratorium we have now, which is on hiring inspectors to even be able to cover the job.

As it stands now, it’s the Wild West. It’s rustlers’ paradise gas rustling, so to speak, and water rustling.



2  — As the debt of OPEB continues to rise, what steps need to be taken to stem the tide and begin reversing the trend?



It needs to be figured equitably to begin with. It’s never been addressed. There’s a standard operating procedure in government — pushing debt off to future generations, without regard of how our children are going to be able to pay for these debts. Then the privatizations elements that have taken place through time. The clear violations of integrity, Gresham’s dynamic taking place in the marketplace, where we are pushing morality out of it, just going for a short-term gain on a consistent basis in this country.

We’ve done that in West Virginia. Since we have such an aged population in West Virginia, we are retirement heaven here, and we should really work to honor that and prepare our people and our community for that aging process. I have a plan that will cover that unfunded liabilities. I have a plan to cover all unfunded liabilities for the state. Unfortunately, right now, I can’t unveil that to you until after May 1 when I have won the nomination. Then, I intend to unleash those plans for the public.

I can guarantee you that it’s founded in good, solid figures and backing. The potential for West Virginia is enormous. Back to what I was saying before about resources, us being the fourth richest resource state in non-renewable resources. No one is factoring in or crunching the numbers on renewable resource potential, and it is vastly greater than our non-renewable resource potential.

Are we the energy state? And should we be? Absolutely, but we should be the renewable energy state. Our non-renewables should be saved for other things, as you’ve heard me talk about before with regard to carbon manufacturing with coal, etc. I’m not against coal, I’ve never been against coal; I’m against mishandling coal and polluting with it when it’s not necessary, when there is a much greater and profitable future for coal and the other non-renewables by handling it in a much different manner,

By focusing on manufacturing and bringing manufacturing to West Virginia, we can be leaders and stop being the leader in type 2 childhood diabetes and obesity and all the things we tend to lead on, which are not the things we tend to be proud of.



3 — Transportation remains a significant issue, especially in our region. What specifically will you do as governor to try to resolve the funding crisis as it relates to financing new construction and providing for adequate maintenance of our existing roads and bridges?



We have a crisis in West Virginia in regards to our highways and our bridges in particular. The last figure I saw, we had over 1,300 bridges that can not even pass inspection. That’s a very dangerous precedent for us to allow to exist. Back to the same way I intend to fund the unfunded liabilities. I have a funding source that is based on renewables that can be utilized for all of those problems. As far as the toll roads, the issues in Mason and Putnam counties that is being argued about the tolls they want to put in there, these all can be taken care of with the idea I’m going to proffer during the general election.



4 — One of former Gov. Joe Manchin’s major platform issues was education reform. While much was discussed, no wide-ranging changes to the way we educate our children have been made in the recent past. What are your plans when it comes to education reform?



I’ve always, since 2004, proffered the idea of lifelong learning, of integration of education and our library systems via broadband and telecommunications. Combining those public elements together, we have tremendous potential to raise the quality of education and accessibility of education of everyone in the state.

I proffered the idea of us having a film school that was connected to every university in the state and potentially even the high schools. We could have a world-class backlot. West Virginia really truly is that. The only thing we don’t have is a shore line, as far as a coastal line. These are all opportunities for advancement of education.

We want education for every West Virginian. Every West Virginian has, or should have, the opportunity for lifelong education. It floats all the boats. Once again, the problem is consistently the tightening of the belt with regards to funding and not looking at our true potential for expanding our coffers and really having a comprehensive plans.

One of the greatest challenges in education today, aside from keeping kids in school long enough to graduate K-12, is our teachers. We do not take care of our teachers. We do not honor their efforts in the classroom. There are sometimes bad teachers that need to be weeded out of the system; that will happen. That happens naturally and always has. What we need to focus on is paying our teachers what they are worth, so they don’t go across the state line on our borders.

These are all things that need to be addressed with a comprehensive package to keep our teachers working. Teacher burnout is a very real issue with education throughout the nation. We lose 50 percent of our new, inspired teachers who go into the classroom in the first five years. Something is wrong. Something is horribly wrong there.

I don’t believe President Obama has given us the right answer. I don’t believe in No Child Left Behind based on the Texas Miracle. I believe the focus has to be on the teachers, and teachers have to have collective bargaining rights in order to have some strength to get the pay they deserve, and classrooms can do nothing but benefit.

When we open that educational process to life so that whether you are sitting at home on the Internet and being able to attend West Virginia University or Mountain State University, etc., and not have to worry about paying tuition, you can’t  do anything but benefit in this state from a more educated workforce, a more educated citizenry.

The more you know, the better off we all are.

How do you feel about charter schools?

I’m not really in favor of them. With what I am proffering, I think they will become a moot point.



5 — We are constantly told, and are witnessing every day, the far-reaching impacts of drug abuse. What will you do as governor to address the epidemic, and do you have any specific plans for interdiction efforts?



We have a problem in this country, and we have a problem in this nation. We have been fighting this war on drugs and throwing trillions of dollars at it to little or no effect. That’s because it’s not the criminal element we really have to look at.

I know from experience. I was a first-responder. I come from a long line of police officers. My father, my uncle, my brothers were all career law enforcement officers. The problem is how we handle drugs. Today, we have an even greater problem. We have two greater problems.

One is pharmaceuticals. We are the number one consumer of both legal and illegal pharmaceuticals in the state of West Virginia. That is a problem. The ability for these companies to advertise on television and radio — that is a problem. It’s something that we need to seriously address.

I believe our war on drugs has been a dismal failure. One of the things we need to really reconsider is hemp and marijuana are crimes that are more or less victimless crimes. They are crimes against yourself. It’s a health issue that needs to be addressed with education. Education is the key component to our health care crises in this country that is not being addressed.

If we start focusing on the real problem of drugs coming from the pharmaceutical industry, and its domination of the health care industry, presently, as well as the fact that now, studies have shown that every organism on earth, in some manner, will inebriate itself. We looked at what Prohibition was with alcohol and what a dismal failure that was for this nation. I think the prohibition against marijuana and hemp has been very similar. The things that they have pointed to are not always accurate.

What we need is a revamping of that entire field. The other element is because of this nature of inebriation by organisms on this planet, we keep looking for it. No matter what we outlaw, they come up with something new. Now, you have an epidemic of this methamphetamine where you’ve got people who can literally take household items that they get at their local drug store or grocery store and produce a potentially lethal and explosive drug in their own home and their own kitchens.

So, what we have to do is to address the real key causes of our drug problems in this nation and in the state. The key issue is a lack of opportunities — career, jobs and the ability to have a healthy lifestyle and to really know what that is. That’s not being addressed and really has never been addressed by an administration prior.

I intend to come up with an new and different approach.



Please highlight the key points of your gubernatorial platform.



I’m focusing on three main E’s. Education is number one. Education is the most critical issue that I think we really have to face in this nation. It’s a grim crisis in education. We were outperformed not only by the other industrialized nations, but also many of the developing nations.

You can not remain a superpower, you can not remain a leader in any sense if you’re not putting education first. History is being redacted. Humanities... These are things that are disappearing from the classroom. Also, in the classroom, we’ve seen the complete disappearance of civics and physical fitness. Now we’re seeing children who sit in front of the computer and pretend to play ball instead of going outside and actually playing ball. They’re not being taught to do that at school. That is a key issue.

Certainly, the economy, which I am going to address with some bold new strokes. West Virginia has the greatest potential for a thriving economy, but it’s just not being addressed.

Lastly, is new energy. Our potential for renewables far outstrips our potential for non-renewable resources. So, why are we a mono-economy? Why does our bond rating in the state suffer due to the fact that we have no diversification? We are a mono-economy of extractive industries, and we’re not embracing the finest parts of what has grown out of the few industries that have thrived in West Virginia.

Whether it be the extractive industry itself or the chemical industry... Many of my ideas have come out and come to fruition even though I was not elected. I was the first one to talk about taking the Carbide Tech Center, which used to house over 300 Ph.Ds, and create a carbon tech center, looking at the possibilities of carbon manufacturing.

These are the real three E’s I want to focus on, and because of that, we can sort of scratch out the three P’s of poverty, pollution and politics as usual. In the state of West Virginia, we’re looking at the entire delegation running for governor, other than myself, is against the EPA and their involvement in the state of West Virginia.

The fact is that the EPA would not be involved in West Virginia if the West Virginia DEP was doing its job. There’s proof. I had it on my website before, and it will be on my website again, showing examples of the lack of leadership, the mishandled leadership that has taken us down this route.

The other thing is overcoming business as usual with the two-party system. I think that every American and every West Virginian looks at the two-party system, looks at the Democrats and Republicans and says, “We have a problem.”

There’s corruption, and both parties have sold out to Wall Street. We’re having billion-dollar elections now, and this is absolutely insane.

If we have public financing of elections, which is one of the things that I would certainly do, and a restoration, somewhat, of the fairness within the media in regards to those elections. In ’87, I believe it was, the Fairness Doctrine was eradicated, so there is no equal time for anything other than the two-party system. So, if you control, it’s just like a ball team. If you own the stadium and you have two teams come in, whether they are shirts and skins, or whatever, if you are on those two teams, you are going to profit.

That’s what we get handed to us repeatedly. Here are two seemingly different choices, but they line up the same. You saw that with the U.S. Senate race. The New York Times showed that Joe Manchin and John Raese were the two closest as far as platforms of any two Democrats or Republicans in the nation. They acted in the media as if they were drastically different. They weren’t.

I’m giving West Virginia a true opportunity to define itself as a leader, truly define itself as a state that respects fairness, truly define itself as a state that is willing to break that broken mold of business as usual in politics and take the opportunity to find out if their vote really counts.

There’s a question throughout this nation: Are our votes really counting? When Diebold ES&S are owned by two brothers who announced their allegiance to Bush… They even wanted to send the counting of our votes offshore. They are counting over 80 percent of the votes cast in America. How do we know our system has integrity?

One way to find out is this opportunity. One year equals a new opportunity for West Virginia. That’s what this term will be if I am elected governor. We can find out whether our system actually works. Because everybody, whether they are Democrat or Republican or Independent or a Mountain Party voter, can vote for a different choice. If they do that, they will know their system works. This is the opportunity that stands before them, and they don’t have a lot to lose.

If they don’t like what I do, they can get rid of me in 2012, but if they like what I have to do, I intend to have upscaled and running the things I have discussed with you today and that I am going to proffer in the general election. I intend to have that up and running in five years, at the end of my two terms. �