LYNN — Massachusetts United States Senator Edward Markey has had a passion for politics since his high school years at Malden Catholic.
He has been a U.S. senator for the last six years, previously serving as the U.S. Representative for Massachusetts’ 7th congressional district from 1976 to 2013. Most recently, the Democrat partnered with freshman Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and sponsored the Green New Deal (GND).
Q: Is the GND a package that must be passed as is or is it a framework to discuss what must be done by Congress in terms of climate change?
A: The goal of the GND is to ensure that we have the long overdue debate in the U.S. about our transformation to wind, solar, all electric vehicles, battery-run technologies, more efficient buildings, and more sustainable agriculture, and to accomplish this as quickly as possible. However, with Donald Trump in the White House, we realize we might have to make it one of the top campaign issues in 2020 and have the American people decide which direction they want our country to go in.
Q: How do you plan to move forward with such a politically charged issue?
A: On our side, we have the scientists and the job creation potential and, on the other side, are the climate deniers, the Koch brothers, and ExxonMobil. I like these political odds. It won’t be easy because they are so powerful and rich and entrenched on the climate denier side, but I do believe we will be successful and a lot of it will be the energy that is coming from millennials in our country who are demanding that a GND be put in place.
Q: Non-politically related, what don’t people know about you?
A: They don’t know I scored eight points in a basketball game against St. Mary’s of Lynn when I was a senior at Malden Catholic. They don’t know that every year, as a special treat, my family came to Hawthorne By the Sea to have seafood and popovers and a view of the Atlantic Ocean. They also don’t know that Saturdays and Sundays during the summer, the Markeys spent the entire day at Nahant Beach. Those are some of my happiest memories.
Q: Speaking of good food on the North Shore, what is your favorite?
A: Near the top of my all-time favorite foods are the popovers from Hawthorne By the Sea, loaded with extra butter. Another favorite, I stopped on the way here for the clam plate at Kelly’s Roast Beef on the beach.
Q: Any presidential candidates you’re rooting for?
A: There are a lot of very good candidates in this race. I partner with Elizabeth Warren in the Senate and I have endorsed her, but there’s room for Seth Moulton’s voice in this campaign, talking about how the president has short-changed veterans.
