Nate Shinagawa, a 2012 Democratic candidate for the newly-formed 23rd Congressional District of New York, brought his campaign to campus Wednesday.
Shinagawa met with a small group of students and faculty members in the University Club. He discussed his stance on issues facing not only students and local residents, but on national and international issues.
A graduate of Cornell University, Shinagawa has a master’s degree in Health Administration. He was elected a member of the Tompkins County legislature from 2005 and won re-election in 2009. Shinagawa is currently a member of the Vice-Chair of the legislature. He was also a legislative aid to Assemblywoman Barbara Lifton.
He spoke about a number of issues including hydraulic fracturing, renewable energy, and directive health options.
Shinagawa works in Bradford County, Pa., a county that has 1000 wells.
“I’m opposed to it (hydrofracking), not only from an environmental perspective, but from a quality of life perspective,” Shinagawa said. “It takes millions of gallons of water to drill the wells and the only way to carry this is through trucks. These trucks damage the roads and add to traffic in the area.”
He spoke about the importance of green energy and about the Center for American Progress’ study into government investing of fossil fuels versus renewable energy.
“When the government invests a million dollars into fossil fuels, it yields 5.3 jobs,” Shingawa said. “When the government invests a million dollars into renewable energy, it yields 16.7 jobs.”
Finally, he spoke on women’s right to directive health options and families access to low-cost family planning methods. Shinagawa said that he is for Title X, which provides a large amount of funding for Planned Parenthood. Planned Parenthood donated the maximum amount possible to Shinagawa’s campaign.
“I think it is absolutely imperative that we reelect President Obama,” he said. “If we don’t then Mitt Romney and [Paul] Ryan will probably choose two justices, at least, that will be very much against choice. Then you’ll have a court where it will be a 7-2 decision. I’m very pro-choice; I’ve been open about that.”
Shinagawa said he got into politics after he watched his father fight for what he believed in. He told the story of an Asian-American man who was murdered by police in his hometown as a child. When the city tried to cover it up, Shinagawa’s father fought and helped to earn the widow a 1 million dollar settlement.
Anyone interested in getting involved or finding out more can visit his website, www.nateshinagawa.com.
westnl11@bonaventure.edu
