Central Kentuckians will go to the polls next week to select Republican and Democratic nominees for the Sixth District U.S. House seat. Today we conclude our review of the four candidates with the thoughts of retired state energy engineer Geoff Young.
Young, who is making his fourth run for political office since 2012, is straightforward about what he believes to be the most important issue in this congressional race. He says it’s “war and peace.”
Young calls himself a foreign military affairs expert and adds he’s been an anti-war activist since the Vietnam War, “It’s impossible to defeat terrorism if our government practices terrorism ourselves. All we’re doing is creating more enemies who hate America and want to kill Americans.”
The long-time Democrat cites the U.S. use of military drones as a terrorist act in itself. Young says it’s resulted in the death of a lot of people, but terrorist groups just recruit more.
In his professional life, Young worked for 14 years in state government. He served as assistant director in the State Energy Office. Young believes economic and environmental gains can come through more energy conservation. “And I don’t mean, you know, turning down the thermostat and wearing sweaters, I mean, energy efficient design of buildings, manufacturing plants, vehicles,” Young explained.
During the interview for this story, Young suggested a skylight in the room could compliment electric lights.
While calling natural gas a “transition fuel,” Young says its production needs to be properly regulated. He says, when pollution generated by each fuel is regulated to minimize damage, it creates the most efficient economic outcome. “The number of jobs is maximized, good paying jobs and damage to people’s health and the environment is minimized,” noted Young.
Regarding the state of health care, Young supports moving toward a single payer system. Calling the Affordable Care Act a good first step, he maintains it has its shortcomings when it comes to private insurance, “The Affordable Care Act was flawed in the sense that it awarded much too large a role to private health insurance corporations. They need to be cut out.”
Young believe gun violence across American can be reduced. While he’s a supporter of the Second Amendment, he believes there should be more restrictions on the ownership of certain weapons. “I favor the reinstatement of the federal assault weapons ban in order to reduce the number of massacres that occur in our schools and public places,” Young said.
Geoff Young says three decades ago there was a better chance of the Democratic and Republican parties coming together on legislation. As an example, he cites the Americans With Disabilities Act. Today, Young places much of the responsibility for gridlock with the GOP. “I think that over the past 30 years the Republican Party has moved so far to the right, become so extreme and obstructionist, that it is no longer a legitimate political party anymore,” contended Young.
Young has entered the political fray before. He’s had unsuccessful bids for state representative, congress, and governor over the last four years. Results on this campaign will be known next Tuesday night. ?
