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David Nicholas: You’re listening to WCMU, I’m David Nicholas. Seven candidates are on the ballot this election season in Michigan's 1st Congressional District.
The district includes the entire Upper Peninsula and most of the northern Lower Peninsula. WCMU reached out to all seven candidates several weeks ago to schedule individual interviews with the same questions to give them an equal chance to speak to voters directly.
Today, my conversation with Independent candidate Zebulon Featherly.
DN: First question I would ask you, sir, is how would you define yourself politically?
Zebulon Featherly: Well, I am an independent candidate. That means I have no party affiliation. So politically, I have my own personal views. I know some of those views align very similarly with how other people may align themselves, but I don't necessarily like to put myself in a box. I don't want to keep myself from expanding what I think and what I believe.
And I think the best way to describe myself is truly independent because there's a lot of things that I agree with on any side and there's a lot of things that I disagree with on any side. So, it really comes down to the specifics and where my morals stand, where my priorities lie.
DN: What specific ideas or plans do you have to address the concept or the overall case of affordability?
ZF: So, affordability here in the, well, here in Northern Michigan, in the UP, is very significant. We have multiple different factors going on. One of those factors is the cost of living. And the cost of living here in Traverse City, where I live currently, is very high. Housing is very high and wages are not. So, one of the first things I would do is try and get to a point where our minimum wage is increased. I think that is one of the most significant things that we can do.
And then another high cost in Northern Michigan and UP is medical insurance, you know, medical coverage. And so, I think getting to a point where we have universal healthcare is also very important. And that's the end goal, right? And it's not going to happen overnight.
So, I think during that time where we are trying to meet this end goal, we have to focus on other things we can do within the medical field, like ensuring that Medicaid and Medicare and the ACA funds are protected and reinstated and making sure that people can feel safe and comfortable within their own medical lives.
Another high cost is energy. Right now, I believe the Upper Peninsula has one of the highest energy costs in the United States. And there are – there is a lot of influence trying to get our focus purely on fossil fuels. And I think that is a complete and utter mistake. I think we are right now in this country, having a lot of difficulty with the cost of living because of our addiction and our reliance on fossil fuels.
There's a lot of other countries that have transitioned successfully to renewable energy. And I think we have the opportunity to do that as well. And we are really missing out on a very, very golden opportunity to start transferring over to kind of a mixed combined system. And, you know, we can have fossil fuels and renewable energy doing the same things to, you know, create a network that supplies the grid.
Um, let's see, any other points for cost of living and affordability? I think I hit a lot of the key ones that I wanted to talk about, but it's all about talking to the people who live there, understanding what the major factors are and having a plan to, you know, help the people living there. But yeah.
DN: Shifting the focus a little bit, what is your position on US foreign policy, specifically right now with the war in Iran?
ZF: Well, I think the war in Iran was a very poorly done. It was a mistake. I think that it was a mistake to let Israel lead us into this war. And I know that's a controversial point. Maybe they didn't lead us into it, but it certainly feels like it was done. And we really haven't achieved much since being there, other than destroying a lot of things and killing a lot of people. And from the very beginning, the goal was not clear. Only until somewhat recently was the goal ever set in stone that it was removing their nuclear weapons potential.
And the, the confusion and the lack of clarity, the lack of transparency is honestly atrocious to me. I think we should have a government that is transparent, that we can understand what is happening, why decisions are being made the way they are, and be able to just understand what is happening within our own government, and there was a severe lack of communication, and a severe lack of transparency. And I think that is a major issue that needs to be dealt with.
Now that we're in Iran and the Strait of Hormuz is closed or being, you know, there's conflict within the Strait, I think we need to find a solid path out of it. We need to understand what our goals are first and foremost and make a very clear and concise effort to either achieve those goals, or back out. And I think people need to make decisions, because just sitting in this stagnant war isn't helping anyone. And nothing really feels like it's being accomplished. And so, there's really no, like, if we're not accomplishing anything, then why are we spending money on it?
As for other foreign policies, I think we need to stop sending money to Israel. I think they are a bad ally, and I think they are perpetrators of a genocide in Gaza, and that is not okay. I think, I have no issues with the Israeli people. It's the Israeli government that I have an issue with, just like I have an issue with the US government right now. That's the whole reason I'm running, you know. So yeah, there's a lot of things happening in the world right now. So, I'll leave it at that for now.
DN: And what is your position on tariffs and trade wars that are going on specifically with Canada?
ZF: Yes, the tariffs that have been placed on Canada are directly impacting Michigan, right? We have multiple borders with Canada. We have a lot of trade with Canada. Tariffs do have a purpose. They can be used as a tool, but they are not a hammer that you just beat your neighboring countries with, your allies with. It's the way that the tariffs have been used by this administration are, it is like a child with, you know, a hammer trying to hit a nail. It's honestly embarrassing. And it's quite embarrassing to communicate with other countries. because they're seeing this from an outside perspective and we are within it.
We have, as Americans, we have a sense of ownership with the actions that are happening within this country, whether we voted for him or not. We live here, we are the people, and we at the end of the day are letting this happen. Whether we're not voicing our disapproval loud enough, whether or not, you know, voting the right people in. And I think a lot of changes are going to happen in November, but, you know, our allies, our neighboring countries are feeling these trade wars now. We are feeling these trade wars now. And it’s, it’s - these trade wars are done with such a lack of foresight. And it's almost purely done out of ego and, you know, desire for dominance. And it is just kind of embarrassing.
DN: Speaking with Zebulon Featherly, he is an independent candidate for Michigan's first congressional district. Mr. Featherly, what is your position on construction of data centers in Michigan?
ZF: So, I think that the construction of data centers should come down to the local communities. Now, there are instances across the country where local communities have set up moratoriums against data centers. And the issue is that those companies can then sue those local governments to try and force these data centers into their communities. And that should not be happening, right?
The federal government needs to set in place something, you know, whether a law or whatever, to protect these local communities from any sort of backlash from their decisions. These local communities should have the safety and the safety of mind to block a data center if they wish or install a data center if they wish. And the federal government should be backing up the local governments. That should be our goal.
I do think we should set up, like, a minimum standard. So, any increased energy costs should come out of the pocket of the companies installing these data centers. Any water usage should be guaranteed that it's not going to affect the local communities and the local environments. The noise potential, right? These are all things that we should set a minimum standard to ensure that they're not affecting local communities, local wildlife, and when we should also be ensuring that communities understand what's going to happen.
That means setting an amount of time to have discussions ahead of time before these projects go underway. It means educating the public about what is going on with them, and you know, what are the benefits, what are the costs. The people that live next to these deserve to know those things. And they deserve to be able to make the decision themselves and not be afraid of the backlash.
DN: And how would you address the ongoing debate over the Line 5 pipeline that is under the Straits of Mackinac?
ZF: So, I touched on this a little bit earlier, but the line 5 tunnel under the Strait of Mackinac is a solution to a problem that we don't necessarily need. So, the Line 5 is for transporting oil and gas, but if we simply transfer to a combined system of fossil fuels as well as renewable energy, solar, wind, hydro, nuclear even (I'm a little more hesitant on that one because of the cost), but we have other options. We have other things that we can, other routes that we can take.
And putting our Great Lakes at risk because of construction underneath the lakes, that is not a risk that I think we need to take. I think we should avoid taking any risks when it comes to our Great Lakes because they are a national treasure and they are something very dear to every person living in Michigan. So yeah, I think we should shut down that pipeline as soon as possible. I think we should transfer over to a more renewable energy system and any other need for oil or gas, we can look at other opportunities and other options.
DN: Thank you very much for giving us the time and the time to speak to the voters of Michigan's First Congressional District. Zebulon Featherly, best of luck with the remainder of your campaign.
ZF: Yeah, thank you so much. Thanks for having me.
