By Shira Schoenberg If he is elected to Congress, State Sen. William Brownsberger says his top priority will be addressing climate change and clean energy. "I think we need to get off of fossil fuels for multiple reasons - climate change, pollution and, to a decreasing degree, dependence on foreign sources," Brownsberger told The Republican/MassLive.com. Brownsberger, a state senator since 2012, has appealed to environmentalists in the the 5th District congressional race with his focus on implementing a carbon tax and addressing climate change. However, he has also broken with many environmentalists with his stance on the Keystone XL oil pipeline. Brownsberger's preferred approach to addressing energy issues is to institute a carbon tax, which he calls "a great way to give us all incentives to reduce our fossil fuel use." Brownsberger said a carbon tax would encourage consumers to reduce energy use and shift toward renewable energy. He acknowledges that a carbon tax would drive up energy prices. But he says he would use the proceeds from the tax for subsidies to help low and moderate income people buy energy. "A carbon tax allows us to give relief to low income and moderate income people, businesses, or regions particularly affected by the energy crisis," Brownsberger said. The carbon tax is a policy that has been pushed by environmentalists. Phillip Sego, chairman of legislative action for the Massachusetts Sierra Club, said a carbon tax would push people away from coal, toward less polluting energy sources. "If the fee structure were such that had people pay for the amount of pollution they're putting in the air, then solar, wind, geothermal and other non-polluting sources would wind up costing people less or equal to the more polluting sources like coal and petroleum," Sego said. Energy producers and manufacturers oppose a tax. A study released by the National Association of Manufacturers earlier this year found that a carbon tax would raise prices significantly on electricity, gasoline and natural gas. The study said a carbon tax would lower manufacturing production and could lead to lower wages for workers as companies faced higher costs. Brownsberger wants the U.S. to adopt a goal of reducing carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050 -- a goal the European Union is already pursuing. Until a carbon tax is in place, Brownsberger supports implementing federal standards for automobile efficiency and power plants. Democratic President Barack Obama's administration last year adopted new standards that will increase the fuel economy of cars to 54.5 mpg by 2025. Obama is working on a plan to limit carbon emissions from power plants through regulation. Asked about federal subsidies to clean energy projects, in light of the failure of projects like the bankrupt solar energy company Solyndra, Browsnberger said he prefers a carbon tax because then government is not making decisions about subsidizing particular energy sources. "I'm most enthusiastic about subsides for conservation," Brownsberger said. "I think other subsidies are an area for compromise, an interim situation." Brownsberger's concern about not burdening lower income people also plays out in his stance on the Keystone XL pipeline, a controversial pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of Canada to the Gulf Coast. Environmentalists oppose the pipeline, arguing that it would create pollution, and there is no guarantee that oil transported through the pipe would remain in the United States. Republicans and many labor leaders support it, saying it will create jobs and give the U.S. a new energy source. The pipeline is awaiting approval from Obama, who has not made a final decision. Brownsberger said in an interview that he will support Obama's position on the pipeline, whatever it is. He has said previously that he does not believe Congress should intervene to block the pipeline. "I feel that we should be focused on reducing consumption," Brownsberger said. "Targeting particular projects like Keystone won't get us there, and targeting those projects can be regionally divisive." On his website, Brownsberger cites economic concerns in explaining his positions on the pipeline and on fracking, a controversial method of extracting natural gas. Brownsberger supports increased environmental regulation of fracking, but not a ban. He explains that opposing all North American fossil fuel development would raise energy prices, hurting poor people in the U.S. and internationally. The stance has hurt Brownsberger with some environmentalists. Eli Gerzon is a volunteer organizer for 350 Massachusetts and an employee of a Better Future Project, grassroots organizations that work to prevent climate change. Gerzon said he had hoped to vote for Brownsberger because of his focus on environmental issues, but he is disappointed with his stances on the Keystone XL Pipeline and fracking. "I think he does not appreciate the significance of this fight," Gerzon said. "Leaving alone the pipeline…we want to set a precedent that this is the first major infrastructure stopped because of climate change." "He has vision," Gerzon said. "But he needs to align with the climate movement." Browsnberger also stresses the importance of U.S. involvement with international institutions. On climate change, he said, "If China's growing dramatically and India's growing dramatically…. We can't solve this problem by ourselves." Other priorities for Brownsberger include bringing down the cost of higher education through technology, for example through online classes and through imposing accountability standards on colleges that get federal loans. He wants to "lighten the burden of the criminal justice system" on neighborhoods with high poverty rates by eliminating mandatory minimum drug sentences, legalizing marijuana and reviewing federal sentencing policies to lessen some penalties. Brownsberger will face state Sen. Karen Spilka, state Sen. Katherine Clark, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, State Rep. Carl Sciortino, Martin Long and Paul Maisano in the Oct. 15 Democratic primary.

By Fred Thys Five of the Democratic candidates vying for Sen. Ed Markey's former 5th Congressional District seat faced off in their only televised debate Tuesday night. State Sen. Karen Spilka, of Ashland, summed it up best: "You have a hard choice. We all sound the same," she said of the liberal field. But the candidates did go after one another in an effort to distinguish themselves from their rivals. State Sen. Will Brownsberger, of Belmont, criticized Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian's record on gun control. "I'm the only candidate sitting here who has a zero every session that I've served in from the NRA," Brownsberger said. "Other candidates have been up from that. Peter actually got himself a B- and voted in favor of a resolution supporting the Supreme Court's decision striking down Washington, D.C.'s efforts to control handguns. So I think that sends a different kind of message to have that kind of record." "Listen, I'm no friend of the NRA," Koutoujian responded. "I'm no friend of the Gun Owners' Action League. I don't even know why I would get such a good grade from the NRA because I don't remember voting anything that was important to them. They don't like me." Later, Brownsberger and state Rep. Carl Sciortino, of Medford, disagreed on whether there should be a constitutional amendment overturning Citizens United, the Supreme Court decision allowing corporations to spend on political campaigns. Brownsberger started explaining why he opposes an amendment when Sciortino jumped in. "It's wrong, it's oversimplification to say that's the whole problem," Brownsberger said. "We had problems all through all the history of politics in this country." "Will, you don't think it's even a problem. That's our concern," Sciortino interjected. "Your problem is, what I won't do is take away the free speech rights of organizations like Planned Parenthood, Sierra Club," Brownsberger replied. "Those are corporations. Let's not forget that." "That decision overturned 100 years of jurisprudence," Sciortino retorted. "It is damaging to our democracy." "What you need to do is look at how you're doing it yourself," Brownsberger said. "I'm raising my money from the people of this district." Brownsberger has raised a greater percentage of contributions from the district than his rivals. Spilka touted her sponsorship of a bill that would require law enforcement to obtain warrants to access people's telephone records, contacts, location and emails. She took on state Sen. Katherine Clark, of Melrose, for supporting a bill that would expand wiretaps beyond organized crime investigations. "Katherine has a bill that expands the scope of surveillance," Spilka said. "The ACLU supports my bill. They say her bill poses a grave danger to private safety." "First of all, I want to say I am a cosponsor with Karen on that electronic privacy and I believe that search warrants are an important constitutional protection," Clark replied. "The bill involving the wiretap statute is about ending gun violence. It removes a provision that requires organized crime. It's what the Supreme Judicial Court has said to the Legislature: This is what we need to update our 1968 statute. That's why the exact same provision is in the governor's gun bill." Two other Democratic candidates were not invited to the NECN debate: former Lexington School Committee member Martin Long and Stoneham community activist Paul John Maisano. Three Republicans are competing for their party's nomination. Primary day is Oct. 15.

By Shira Schoenberg From climate change to income inequality, the five Democratic candidates for the 5th District congressional seat showed Thursday night that they have more in common than divides them. While there were some differences between the candidates, on issues such as the Citizens United Supreme Court decision, the candidates, in their first in-person debate, agreed on a number of progressive principles. State Sens. William Brownsberger, Katherine Clark and Karen Spilka, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and State Rep. Carl Sciortino met at a Progressive Voters Forum at Lesley University in Cambridge. The forum was organized by Massachusetts Peace Action, sponsored by eight progressive organizations and moderated by Jordan Berg Powers, deputy director of the liberal advocacy group Mass Alliance. The similarities were apparent from the first question, on climate change. Sciortino echoed the sentiment of all the candidates when he said, "We have to bring a sense of urgency to this issue right now." Brownsberger, Clark, Koutoujian and Sciortino all said they support some form of carbon pricing, either a carbon tax or a cap and trade system, in which companies pay for the pollution they emit. "We need to create broad economy-wide incentives to give people incentives to change their behavior, give businesses incentives to change their behavior and make renewables more attractive," Brownsberger said. All the candidates except Brownsberger said they oppose the Keystone XL pipeline, a pipeline opposed by many environmentalists that would carry oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast. All five candidates generally supported the ideas behind a "Budget for All" resolution, a resolution passed by voters in numerous Massachusetts towns urging Congress to invest in education, health care and transportation, end cuts to social programs, raise taxes on the wealthy and corporations and redirect military spending to job creation. "We cannot cut our way to prosperity, and Budget for All is reflective of those values," Clark said. "It creates jobs, invests in infrastructure and education and addresses the disparity of wealth in this country." All of the candidates voiced concern about economic inequality and advocated for raising the federal minimum wage. "The highest paid executive is making more than the robber barons of decades ago," Spilka said. Brownsberger added that he would address poverty by reforming the criminal justice system - repealing mandatory minimum sentences for drug violations and legalizing marijuana. One area where Brownsberger differed was on the 2010 Citizens United Supreme Court ruling, which allowed companies to make unlimited political expenditures as long as they do not coordinate with a candidate. The court said companies have First Amendment rights to political speech. Clark, Spilka, Koutoujian and Sciortino would support a constitutional amendment to overturn the decision. "The Constitution doesn't say we the corporations, it says we the people," Koutoujian said. "That's exactly who should be enjoying these constitutional rights." Spilka added, "We can't let people like Karl Rove and the Koch brothers literally buy some of these elections." Brownsberger, however, said the court decision does not address the problem of special interest money influencing politics. He said a constitutional amendment would strip the rights protecting corporations such as Planned Parenthood. "It means the police could waltz into any corporation building and do what they please," Brownsberger said. Brownsberger urged voters to think about the big picture and "what's the downside of curtailing and shaving back the First Amendment." All the candidates promised to be strong advocates for women's rights. "I don't understand the extraordinary preoccupation of the radical right in attempts to control the reproductive health of women here in our country. I find it quite bizarre," Spilka said. Koutoujian said he had been "fighting for women's issues for decades" - from starting a white ribbon campaign at the State House for men to stand united against domestic violence to fighting to require emergency rooms in all hospitals, regardless of religious affiliation, to provide emergency contraception to victims of sexual assault. There were some differences on foreign policy. Sciortino broke with his opponents as the only one to oppose a recent congressional vote increasing sanctions on Iran. Sciortino talked about the United States's lengthy involvement in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and said, "I'm not someone who will say I trust you when they say we need to rattle the cages faster and harder in military conflicts around the world." He cited the State Department in saying additional sanctions are not in the U.S.'s international interest. The other candidates said sanctions should be maintained to stop Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons. "Allowing Iran to develop nuclear weapons is a threat to national security and our greatest ally in the Middle East, Israel," Clark said. "I think sanctions are an important part of diplomatic efforts to contain that." When Powers asked whether the candidates would speak out against Israeli settlements in the West Bank, Sciortino was the only candidate to criticize the settlements. Sciortino called the settlements a "barrier to the peace process" and said the U.S. should critique them in a way that is "respectful of important conversations being had" to bring both sides to the negotiating table. Sciortino, Koutoujian, Spilka and Clark stressed the need for a two-state solution. Clark said a solution requires the recognition of Israel, a cessation of violence, resolution of the status of Jerusalem and economic viability for the Palestinians. "When we negotiate the border, we will resolve this vexing issue of the settlements," Clark said. Spilka, who has relatives in Israel, and Brownsberger both stressed the difficulty Israel faces as its enemies shoot rockets into the country. "Until that settles down, folks stop throwing rockets, Hamas and Hezbollah settle down, the peace process isn't going to get to closure," Brownsberger said. All the candidates oppose the use of U.S. military force in Syria. Koutoujian and Spilka spoke in personal terms, noting that their families had been affected by genocide -- Koutoujian's in the Armenian genocide and Spilka's in the Holocaust. Koutoujian said Syrian President Bashar Assad should be prosecuted as a war criminal in the Hague, and the U.S. should seek opportunities to provide refugee visas and asylum and provide humanitarian aid to Syrians. The five Democrats, along with Martin Long, a former Lexington School Committee member, and Stoneham resident Paul Maisano, are competing for the congressional seat that was vacated when Democrat Edward Markey was elected to the U.S. Senate. The primary will be Oct. 15 and the general election Dec. 10. Harvard physicist Mike Stopa, attorney Frank Addivinola and veteran Tom Tierney are running as Republicans.