This is the ninth in an occasional series of articles based on conversations with the Second Congressional District candidates. Articles on each candidate who agrees to an interview will run before the parties’ preprimary nominating conventions on March 15.
Frank McKinnon says he’s not just the “anti-nuke candidate” in the race to replace Steve Pearce in Congress, but he talks about combating the spread of the nuclear industry in
“If I don’t succeed at doing that then the rest of this stuff’s not going to matter a whole lot,” McKinnon said of many other issues that he said are also important.
McKinnon, in an interview, said he first entered the race to bring attention to the spread of the nuclear industry in
“Life was good before I got into this election,” said McKinnon, a Democrat. “I tried to get out of it, but there are obvious good reasons for me to stay in it, in my opinion, because if I don’t, we’re toast.”
The other Democrats in the race are retired Presbyterian pastor Al Kissling, Doña Ana County Commissioner Bill McCamley and former Lea County Commissioner Harry Teague.
McKinnon’s other issues
McKinnon is an educator from
He has a Web site to educate people about that situation.
In 2007, he became heavily involved in a fight against a proposal to put a nuclear waste reprocessing plant near
In the interview, McKinnon listed other issues that are important in his campaign. He said he would vote to end the
He wants to implement what he calls “civilized medicine,” but what many others call socialized medicine, saying that would help meet the needs of Americans and would reduce poverty, alcohol and drug addictions and crimes that result from those problems. He said he is a strong proponent of the nation’s public education system.
But his passion is most evident when he’s talking about the nuclear industry and changes he says need to be made in the nation’s energy policy.
‘An insidious thing’
McKinnon said “an insidious thing” is happening. People, including some of his opponents, are inappropriately lumping nuclear energy into talk of alternative and renewable energy. Nuclear energy is not renewable, he said, and nuclear power plants produce toxic emissions and radioactive waste. The worst part, he said, is trying to figure out where to put the waste.
Many of his opponents want to increase use of nuclear energy, and U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici has been one of the leading voices in favor of what McKinnon calls the “nuclear renaissance.”
He believes the industry has a plan to turn
And he believes the plan spreads north to old uranium mines near Socorro and Grants.
“So that little nuclear renaissance that I’m trying to stop is not just in
He says
A radical new energy policy
Instead of a shift to nuclear, McKinnon said the
McKinnon said the energy shift can be complete in a few years and would reduce the nation’s energy costs by two-thirds. That, he said, would free up money to pay back the nation’s debt.
It can be done entirely with renewable energy generated by wind, solar, hydrogen and tidal power, McKinnon said. The hydrogen power could come from several technologies, including saltwater and electricity generated by turbines that are spun by the tides of the ocean. Automobiles can affordably be converted from gas power to hydrogen power, he said.
“There’s a lot of different ways to have renewable energy,” McKinnon said. “We could provide all our energy needs with this.”
Better oversight
McKinnon also talks frequently about a related issue, improving oversight of the Department of Energy and other government agencies. It’s another passion that comes from his experiences with the superfund site and the nuclear facility.
“It’s been quite an education,” he said. “… It would certainly be a better world if there was some oversight in
“There are a lot of things that could be done in reorganizing things to better the way we spend the money of the people,” he said.
‘People are right there with me’
McKinnon said his message is resonating with voters. He said he has more than enough support to get the 20 percent of delegates at the Democratic Party’s March 15 preprimary convention that he needs to appear on the ballot.
He has raised and spent little on his campaign, but said he could win if he had a few thousand dollars to educate people about the nuclear industry’s plans.
“What I’ve found at these forums is most of the people are right there with me,” he said. “If I had a couple hundred signs and a couple of thousands dollars for radio ads, I could win this thing.”
This congressional seat, he said, “has been traditionally held by oil men.” They’re afraid to give it up to a candidate like him, he said, because they have a personal interest in the nation’s use of oil. But McKinnon said the
Because of the history and makeup of this congressional district, he said, its representative is “in a very strong position to determine what kind of energy we’ll be using.”
“I’m going to keep making noise until I’ve either protected our home or we don’t have one,” McKinnon said.
Update, March 9, 3 p.m.
After this article was originally published, McKinnon took issue with the fact that I didn’t report that getting out of
McKinnon said his top priority is ending the war. He said the world’s dependency on oil for fuel and the injustice that has occurred in
“These will not be easy problems to solve, but the first step in solving them will be to recognize them,” he said. “Then, a good step to take will be to start using something other than oil for energy.”
This posting has also been updated to clarify that hydrogen power can be generated by several different methods, and that McKinnon’s “civilized medicine,” in his view, is similar to what others call socialized medicine.
Prior interviews with Second Congressional District candidates:
• Terry Marquardt, published March 4, 2008
• Monty Newman, published Feb. 27, 2008
• Bill McCamley, published Feb. 20, 2008
• Ed Tinsley, published Feb. 18, 2008
• C. Earl Greer, published Feb. 14, 2008
• Al Kissling, published Jan. 28, 2008
• Aubrey L. Dunn Jr., published Jan. 14, 2008
• Harry Teague, published Dec. 20, 2007