Comity, defined as mutual courtesy or civility, is severely lacking in political discourse. We’re at the point that negative campaigns are so ubiquitous they are accepted as a fact of life. Even in relatively small races (like the one I’m participating in for state senate) are susceptible to pugnacious candidates quick to lob virulent attacks at each other. 

Our country has become so divided across political ideology that it’s difficult to imagine how we’ll ever truly make progress again. Time is running out to address many of the challenges we face and unless we learn to work together, to cooperate and collaborate, there is little hope actually taking the steps that need to be taken.

I fundamentally disagree with my opponents on many matters, including those that are literally life or death issues, but instead of entering the partisan fray I want to focus on solutions to our problems. The election is right around the corner but there is still time to tone down the rhetoric and end the malicious attacks. I encourage both my opponents to take some time and consider how negative campaigning is encouraging the divide that is preventing the progress that we so desperately need.

Our political system might be broken but the only way to fix it is by participating.  Hopefully throughout this election season you’ve come to realize that I’m the one candidate in this race that has the experience, dedication, and integrity to help lead us to a better future but regardless of your political persuasion, please vote on Tuesday.  

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. If you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate
Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett
#BennettForSenate

No matter what, please vote on November 4th.

Mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet.

This weekend in southern West Virginia is the annual Mountain Justice Fall Summit, a gathering of people from around the country that converge in West Virginia to address the crisis of mountaintop removal and fracking in Appalachia. I’ve been part of the mountain justice community for many years and I feel as though Appalachia has become my second home. As such, I very much want to attend this event and do my part to help end the devastation in our oldest and most beautiful mountains and the communities that reside there (because mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet).

Of course, with the election looming, traveling to West Virginia for the weekend, even for such an important event, is not practical. Instead, I’m going to take this opportunity to talk a little about the travesty that is mountaintop removal and encourage everyone that is reading this to take a stand against mountaintop removal and fracking in Appalachia. The horrors of fracking have been well documented and have become part of a national debate on our energy future. As such, I’m going to focus on mountaintop removal because mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet and very few people know about it.

Simply put, mountaintop removal is a form of coal extraction whereby large coal companies drill huge holes into the top of mountains, fill those holes with toxic explosives, and then literally blow up the mountain, chunk by chunk. To give you some perspective, every day, on average, the coal companies use 5.5 million pounds of explosives. After the explosion they then use huge, building size machines to dump the rubble of the destroyed mountains into the adjacent valleys thereby destroying everything there too. So far in the U.S. more than 500 mountains have been destroyed and more than 2000 miles of streams and rivers have been permanently buried. Mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet. 

Beyond just the environmental impacts, the results of mountaintop removal are truly horrific. Study after study have shown that cancer rates, birth defects, and other negative health effects in communities near where mountaintop removal is taking place are much higher than in comparable communities elsewhere. A study by West Virginia University that was published this week by the journal Environmental Science and Technology confirms this. “A growing body of evidence links living in proximity to [mountaintop removal] activities to greater risk of serious health consequences, including significantly higher reports of cancer,” the study said. “Our finding strengthens previous epidemiological studies linking [mountaintop removal] to increased incidence of lung cancer, and supports adoption of prevention strategies and exposure control.” Mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet. To see a list of more studies confirming this see here. 

My brief overview barely scratches the surface of the horrors of what is happening in Appalachia. To learn more about the devastation that is occurring every day I recommend the resources page on the I Love Mountains website. Additionally, I recommend the video Leveling Appalachia: The Legacy of Mountaintop Removal Mining. Finally, since mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet, there are a lot of great books chronicling the devastation; I suggest starting with Plundering Appalachia: The Tragedy of Mountaintop Removal Coal Mining.

At the beginning of his first term many people thought that President Obama would use his powers through the Environmental Protection Agency to finally end the national disgrace of mountaintop removal but that didn’t happen. Instead, mountaintop removal continued and fracking exploded across the country, destroying communities wherever the drills pierce the earth. Recently the EPA has increased its efforts to slow down mountaintop removal, however, their actions are not nearly enough. Enter the Appalachian Community Health Emergency Act, a Congressional bill that would effectively end mountaintop removal. In order to become law the ACHE Act needs to pass both houses of Congress. In order for that to happen your Congressperson and Senator need to hear from you. You can find the contact information for your House member here and your Senator here. Mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet, please make the call today.

Additionally, there are a lot of great organizations working tirelessly to end mountaintop removal and I suggest doing some research and getting involved or supporting at least one of them. Some that immediately come to mind are Keeper of the Mountains Foundation and Coal River Mountain Watch. Mountaintop removal in Appalachia is literally one of the worst things happening on the planet, you should do something about it.

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate
Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett
#BennettForSenate

This image was used to promote Mountain Justice Spring Break this year, an event that I helped to organize.

National parks are a truly wonderful part of our national landscape and have countless benefits. In addition to providing permanent environmental protections they are also great for the local economies that they exist in. In most of the recent debates I’ve participated in I have suggested that Connecticut needs a new national park. In fact, I think we need at least four new national parks (to bring our total to five).

Currently the only national park in Connecticut is the small but quaint Weir Farm in Ridgefield. Considering the geographic diversity and environmental beauty that extends across the entirety of our small state, it is imperative that we protect, in perpetuity, the places in Connecticut that have yet to be developed (and in some cases restore areas that have been developed).

The first two of the four new parks should be in the southern part of the state. The first would protect the lower Connecticut River Valley, including most of the 33rd state senate district. The Connecticut River is one of the only rivers of its size in the world not to have a major port at its mouth. In fact, this area has received international recognition for its nearly pristine natural beauty. Anyone that has spent time in this area knows just how beautiful it is, unfortunately, much of it lacks any kind of formal protection. Additionally, although the majority of people who live in the vicinity of it appreciate the wonder of the Connecticut River it is largely ignored by many of our current elected officials.

The second park I’m suggesting is a Long Island Sound National Seashore. Like the Connecticut River, Long Island Sound is also a national treasure. Also like the Connecticut River, protection of Long Island Sound is inadequate and woefully underfunded. Moreover, much of the Connecticut coast has been stolen by a wealthy minority that believe that they can own what is actually a public right- access to our coast. It’s long past time that we take back our beaches from the wealthy and put them back where they rightfully belong- in the hands of the public. 

The final two parks I’m proposing would be primarily in the northern counties of Connecticut. One would be in northeastern Connecticut and encompass much of what is referred to as the ‘Last Green Valley‘. The area gets that moniker because it is essentially the largest tract of mostly undeveloped land between Portland, Maine and Washington D.C. The second new park would lay primarily in Litchfield County and protect our northwest highlands. Each of these parks could reach into neighboring states (Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and New York) and become regional attractions. 

The environmental benefits of national parks is obvious and I don’t feel the need to go into much detail here. The one thing I will say is that we need to take big steps to permanently protect our environment before our most beautiful and important places are destroyed forever.  

Finally, according to the National Park Conservation Association national parks help to generate $31 billion for local economies every year. Furthermore, according to the NPCA for every one dollar invested in national park operations ten dollars is returned to local communities. Finally, in the economic benefit category, the NPCA states that eight of the top 25 top tourist destinations in the U.S. are national parks. Clearly, the economic benefits alone make national parks a no-brainer.

Designating a national park takes an act of Congress and considering how utterly incompetent Congress has become, it will likely take a lot of hard work to make any new national park in Connecticut a reality. That said, regardless of whether or not I’m elected this year, working toward the goal of achieving new national parks in Connecticut is something I plan to put a lot of effort into over the coming years. If you have any interest in helping, please let me know. In the meantime, I hope I can count on your vote on November 4th.

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post. 

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate
Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett
#BennettForSenate

Bennett For Senate

As a candidate I don’t make many promises. Other candidates make promises all time, but how often do they actually deliver on those promises? To do so is, at best, disingenuous, and, at worst, outright deceitful. That’s because there is very little that any candidate can to do to guarantee results if elected.

Does anyone remember Obama’s promise to close Guantanamo? How did that work out? I could spend hours giving examples of elected officials that failed to deliver on promises they made as candidates but to do so would be unnecessary; we all know that promises made by candidates are almost always completely useless.

There is, however, one thing I can promise: as a candidate and as state senator, I’ll never tell you something just because I think it’s what you want to hear.  You may not agree with me on an issue but I’m not going to lie to you. I’d much rather earn your respect and your vote by telling the truth, even if I know that you won’t like it, than have you vote for me based on empty promises.

P.S. Furthermore, no matter what, I will never, ever, bow to corporations or corporate lobbyists. (Spend some time with me and you’ll get a taste of my absolute and utter hatred of corporations and their takeover of our country.)

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

I love books! #BennettForSenate

This past Tuesday night I participated in the second debate in the race for the Connecticut State Senate seat in the 33rd district. Over the course of 90 minutes we answered questions on issues from the economy and the environment to marijuana legalization and physician-assisted suicide. Directly following the debate and in the days since I have received a lot of positive feedback about my performance. The two things I hear most often are gratitude for being lively and genuine and praise for bringing topics to the conversation that would otherwise be absent.

The thing is, this election is about more than me. It’s about more than any of the individual candidates or the parties they represent. A state senator is tasked with making decisions on behalf of the people in their district; in order to make the best possible decisions it’s essential to listen to their constituents. Elected officials should be accountable to the people, not corporate lobbyists. Do you remember the mantra, ‘Of the people, by the people, for the people’? That actually means something to me.

Candidates make promises all day long but how often to they actually deliver on those promises if they get elected? Based on every conversation I’ve had regarding this race, both with people from the district as well as with folks outside the lower Connecticut River Valley, people are sick and tired of the status quo and most have given up hope that either of the corporate parties can (or will) do anything to make things better. In other words, almost everyone I talk to realizes that elected officials are much more likely to listen to corporate lobbyists than they are to their own constituents.

Of course, everyone that knows me knows that I have an opinion on just about every issue out there. In most cases, I also have ideas for solutions to solve the problems that we face. As a candidate I have prioritized certain key issues that I believe need immediate attention. But I want to know what’s on your mind. What issues matter most to you? What are your ideas to help make society better?

Please, tell me what you’re thinking. Give me your ideas. Let’s do this together!

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

Bennett For Senate

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about the so-called People’s Climate March. It has been on my mind for months. Since the very first moment that I heard this idea proposed I asked myself one simple question: Why? That question was almost immediately followed by one thought that has stuck with me ever since: this march is an absolutely and utterly horrible idea. This march, without any goals or being part of a long term strategy seems like nothing more than a giant climate parade. (Or perhaps charade is more accurate.) As the event draws closer I’ve spent more and more time debating whether or not to attend. I went to sleep last night considering that question and I woke up this morning with the march on my mind. The frustration is maddening.

Anyone that knows me all knows that I’ve spent almost my entire adult life as environmental organizer and activist. The vast majority of those efforts have been directly under the climate umbrella. The list of my activities and accomplishments in the (so-called) climate movement is extensive and spans more than a decade. I’ve been to countless climate related events including just about every major rally or gathering. I was arrested outside of the White House protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. I’ve been recognized on the state and local level for my organizing efforts. On the personal level, I make every reasonable attempt to lower my own carbon footprint. All this is to say, no one can claim that I’m not committed to doing everything that I can to help stop the climate crisis.

Bill McKibben and his crew from Middlebury College, now known as 350.org, are one of the driving forces behind the People’s Climate March. Since their inception as the Sunday Night Group at Middlebury they have been calling for larger and larger climate events. Examples include Step It Up in 2007, the International Day of Climate Action in 2009, the Global Work Party in 2010, Moving Planet in 2011, Climate Impacts Day in 2012, and the Forward on Climate rally last year. Of course, most of these events have other groups and organizations involved, but 350 can largely take the credit for all of them. The thing is, I firmly believe that none of these events have really brought us any closer as a nation to taking action on climate. Despite the attempts of 350, mountains and communities in Appalachia are still being destroyed for coal; fracking is on the rise across the country; offshore drilling for petroleum is poised to explode from Delaware to Florida; tar sands extraction is still wreaking havoc in Canada and is on the verge of spreading into the United States; we have not really come anywhere near national climate legislation and the international climate negotiations are a joke. The point is, even with the immeasurable amount of time, energy, resources, and money that have have gone into organizing all these events, greenhouse gas emissions are still increasing and the effects of the climate crisis are growing.

One of the very first things I learned as an organizer is that an event is not a goal; events are supposed to help reach an already defined goal. In other words, organizing an event that is not part of a comprehensive strategy to reach a clearly defined and measurable goal is virtually meaningless. As such, bringing thousands of people to New York City to march and chant because they care about the climate crisis is likely to do almost nothing whatsoever because there is, by design, absolutely no stated strategy behind this march. Paraphrasing an astute line from Jurassic Park, it seems as though the 350.org folks and their partners have spent so much time worrying about whether or not they could (get a bunch of people in the same place at the same time) they never stopped to think about whether or not they should.

I’ve been part of what serves as the climate movement since its inception and at this point I’m absolutely certain that what we need is comprehensive climate legislation at the federal level (and, by extension, an international climate agreement). That alone won’t solve the problem (or give us climate justice) but without it we have no reasonable chance. I don’t really doubt that the 350 folks or any of the organizations endorsing the People’s Climate March are committed to helping to solve stop the climate crisis (although their commitment to climate justice often comes into question). I do, however, have serious doubts that any of their current actions are helping to get us where we need to be. Until we have an actual, unified climate movement fighting to address the climate as a country, events like the People’s Climate March will be little more than expensive, wasteful exercises in futility. 350.org has the potential to be a leader in that fight but until they start thinking and acting strategically, I urge everyone that cares at all about the climate to think twice about participating in events like the People’s Climate March.

Read more here: Like a Dull Knife: The People’s Climate “Farce”

Here: The Last Gasp of Climate Change Liberals

Here: Don’t come to New York for the Peoples Climate March… Come to grow the Eco-Resistance!

And here: Quelling Dissent: How the Big Greens Contain & Dissolve Resistance

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

Protesting the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline at the White House.

I absolutely reject the practice of raising and spending vast sums of money to run for public office. It’s antithetical to the whole concept of public service and has largely destroyed our democracy (just think of the travesty that is Citizens United). As such, in my history as a candidate I’ve raised and spent very little or no money in each of my campaigns, never more than a thousand dollars. In this election my opponents are poised to raise and spend tens of thousands of dollars trying to get elected.  Apparently they’ve bought into the asinine concept that the candidate with the most money is somehow the most qualified.

In reality, the ability to fundraise has absolutely nothing to do with the ability to be an effective legislator, especially when so many campaign contributions come from corporations, PACs, and other special interest groups that are trying to buy influence with candidates. Until we fix this system (including overturning Citizens United) our political landscape is going to continuously and precipitously decline. Only in races with Green Party candidates or candidates that pledge not to participate in this farce of essentially buying elections will voters be able to elect representatives that are not beholden to the forces that are tearing this country apart.

I’ve spent a lot of time considering whether or not to spend any money on this campaign and I’ve come to a decision. I am setting a goal of raising $999.00 to spend on campaign materials, specifically, t-shirts, lawn signs, buttons, and stickers. I believe that this modest sum is well within what should be reasonable limits on campaign spending yet will allow me to run a more competitive campaign. As part of the overall strategy I’m hoping to raise this money in the next two weeks solely through small contributions. If you are willing to help me you can make a contribution via PayPal by sending money to colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com. You can also make a contribution via mail using my campaign address: 487 East Pond Meadow, Westbrook, Connecticut 06498.

Thank you. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments.

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

Bennett for Senate

In a few hours I’ll be participating in the first debate in my campaign for a seat in the Connecticut State Senate. This debate, happening in Old Lyme, is the first of five that have been confirmed so far. Unfortunately, all of these confirmed debates are in the southern portion of our twelve town district. Furthermore, the Republican incumbent has not agreed to participate in one of the five and, at this point, is unwilling to schedule any more. My Democratic opponent has publicly challenged the Republican in this race to twelve debates, one in each town, however, I was left out of that open invitation.

Specifically, according to a blog post on this site, the Democratic campaign stated, “In hopes of promoting widespread public discussion of state and local issues, Democratic State Senate Candidate Emily Bjornberg proposed today that she and her Republican opponent hold twelve public debates before the November 4th General Election, one in each town of the 33rd State Senate District.” Although I was left out of that challenge (which I’m sure was just an unfortunate oversight) I agree that as candidates we should strive to reach as many people in our district as possible through rigorous debates of the issues most relevant to this part of Connecticut.

As such, I would also like to accept my Democratic opponent’s challenge and also encourage the incumbent to do the same. In the spirit of democracy and fair competition I invite both of my opponents to bring these conversations to the northern part of our district, specifically, Colchester, East Hampton, and Portland. With more than six full weeks left before election day there is more than enough time to bring debates to the parts of the district that are otherwise ignored. Both of the other candidates know how to get in touch with me so I’m hoping that we can come to agreement on how we can bring debates to the entire district. You can help by contacting the other candidates and encouraging them to participate. In the meantime, wish me luck on tonight’s debate!

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

This is me last year at the Indigenous Enslavement and Incarceration in North American History Conference hosted by Yale.

As mentioned in my first post, I spent 12 years in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve. I’m proud of my Coast Guard service, not only because I got to directly serve my country, but because my role allowed me to do what I’m most passionate about: protecting our environment. I joined while still in college and went to bootcamp in Cape May, New Jersey during a summer break. About a year after I completed my initial training I went through advanced schooling to become a Marine Science Technician. My responsibilities and duties are too numerous to list here but to sum it up, I was primarily responsible for helping to protect our coastline and waterways from marine pollution. As such, a highlight of my Coast Guard career was spending two months in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 responding to BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster. I spent more than eight hours a day on a boat in the bayous of the Mississippi River Delta helping to clean up recoverable oil from the disaster. That experience, while under tragic circumstances, was definitely rewarding in many ways and has made a lasting impact on my life.

Although I have considered myself an environmentalist for as long as I can remember, my time in the Gulf of Mexico during the BP catastrophe showed me, firsthand, the devastation that fossil fuel extraction can wreak. Only one other situation, mountaintop removal in Appalachia (more on that in a future post), has, for me, been able to so clearly put a human face on the direct impacts our global fossil fuel addiction. Talking and getting to know shrimp boat operators and workers, charter boat captains, and other folks that depend on the Gulf for their livelihoods, it was glaringly obvious that we need to immediately transition from an economy based on dirty, dangerous, and destructive fossil fuels to an economy that thrives on preferred sources of energy from the wind and the sun.

Obviously, I care deeply about the environment; in fact, it’s the issue that I consider to be most important. Simply put, without clean air and water all other issues generally cease to matter- our very survival depends on these things. The good news is, taking action on the environment is also tremendously helpful for our health, our economy, and our over well being. Investing in renewable energy infrastructure creates long-term, high quality jobs and Connecticut can be a global leader in developing and manufacturing new clean energy technologies. Considering not only the need for urgent action to stop the ongoing climate crisis, but the fact that fossil fuel use is killing people around the world, including in Connecticut, the transition to clean energy needs to a priority. As state senator I would help to lead the charge toward a clean energy revolution.

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post more specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

Me in the office at Sector Long Island Sound in New Haven.

Hello! My name is Colin Bennett and I’m running for a seat in the Connecticut State Senate in the 33rd District. Over the next month and a half I’ll be posting periodic updates about my campaign and answering questions from potential voters. This first post is intended to provide a little background information about me and why I’m running.

Born and mostly raised in Connecticut (I spent a few years in upstate New York as a child) I moved to Westbrook with my family in 1995 and graduated from Westbrook High School. Although I have spent some time away for school and work, I have considered the 33rd district my home for the majority of my life. I love Connecticut and I’m committed to doing all that I can to make this state the best state in country.

My adult life has been dedicated to public service. Among other things I served for twelve years as a Marine Science Technician in the U.S. Coast Guard Reserve; I was the Sustainability Outreach Coordinator at George Mason University; I was a member of the Westbrook Forest Commission; I am the founder and executive director of the Great Land Conservation Trust; I was outreach coordinator for the Environmental Futurists at Southern Connecticut State University, a volunteer with the Westbrook Fire Department, a teacher at Saint Mary’s School in New London and a teacher at Saint Sebastian’s School in Middletown, an advisor for the Saint Bernard High School Environmental Club in Uncasville, and a clean energy organizer with Clean Water Action in Hartford. I also serve as a Justice of the Peace in Westbrook. Additionally, I volunteer for numerous non-profit groups, mostly environmental organizations. Notably, I have been an active volunteer with the Sierra Club for more than ten years. With hope, even this partial list will demonstrate my commitment to public service.

Connecticut has largely lost its way in terms of how our state government functions, yet I believe that by working together, using our legislature as the catalyst, we can balance our budget, bring jobs to Connecticut, ensure that our children our well educated, and have safe and healthy communities. I do not believe that big-government is the answer; I believe that smart government is the answer. I believe that our government should be of the people, for the people, not by and for corporations (or those that seek only to serve special interests or the wealthy). That’s why I run as a Green Party candidate; the Green Party takes absolutely no money from corporations or special interest groups. That means when I am elected I will not be beholden to anyone but the residents of the 33rd district and the people of Connecticut.

My priorities are improving job growth through ramping up the state’s clean energy economy, improving education for all of our children and young people, and stabilizing taxes for low and middle income families. In the coming weeks I’ll post specific information on each of these priorities as well on other issues relevant to this race. In the meantime, if you have questions or want to know my thoughts on an issue, feel free to email me at colinbennettforsenate@gmail.com, or just comment on this post.

Check out my Facebook page here: www.facebook.com/Bennett.for.Senate

Follow me on Twitter here: @Senate4Bennett

#BennettForSenate

A picture of me while on duty in Louisiana as part of the Coast Guard’s response to the BP oil spill disaster in 2010.