Staff report

The Reno Gazette-Journal reached out to all of the presidential candidates, Republican and Democrat, for their responses to six questions of special interest to Nevada voters.

Informed by reader feedback, we asked them about immigration, drought, renewable energy, marijuana, online gaming and federal lands management. Below are the email responses from Democratic hopefuls Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton, given in alphabetical order.

IMMIGRATION —Given that one in six Nevada schoolchildren has a parent who is not a legal resident or citizen of the United States, what specific actions would you take as president regarding those parents and how do you think the children should be handled if they were born in the U.S.?

HILLARY CLINTON:

I am fully committed to keeping families together by fixing our broken immigration system. As President, I will fight for every family, regardless of status. Our immigration system should be humane, it should live up to our values, and no mother or child in America should go to sleep at night afraid of hearing a knock on the door.

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First, I will put an end to raids, round-ups, and deportations that tear families apart and don't make our country safer. Second, I will defend the President's executive actions and expand them to keep even more families together. Finally, I will end the political assumption that we can't get comprehensive immigration reform done. We can get it done, and I will make it a top priority. The American people support comprehensive immigration reform not just because it’s the right thing to do, but because it will strengthen families, strengthen our economy, and strengthen our country. As president, I will fight to enact comprehensive immigration reform with a pathway to citizenship, enabling millions to come out of the shadows.

BERNIE SANDERS:

As president, I will fight for comprehensive immigration reform that provides a roadmap to citizenship for the 11 million aspiring Americans living in this country. But I will not wait for Congress to act. I will take executive action to accomplish what Congress has failed to do and build upon President Obama’s executive actions to unite families.

I have talked to too many young kids who are scared to death they or their parents may be deported. We who are parents should ask ourselves: What we would do if our children faced the danger and violence these children do? How far would we go to protect them?

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Our nation has always been a beacon of hope, a refuge for the oppressed. We cannot turn our backs on that essential element of who we are as a nation. We need to take steps to protect children and families seeking refuge here, not cast them out.

DACA (Deferred Action of Childhood Arrivals) and DAPA (Deferred Action for Parents of Americans) were good first steps taken by the Obama Administration, but much more needs to be done.

As president, my Administration will use prosecutorial discretion to allow all undocumented immigrants who have been in the United States for at least five years to stay in the country without fear of being deported.

Since 1956, every president – Democrat and Republican – has taken steps to provide temporary immigration relief to aspiring Americans. This includes President George H.W. Bush, who in 1990 took executive action to make sure that up to 1.5 million undocumented spouses and children of legalized individuals were not deported.

Further, we should not deny a path to citizenship to an undocumented parent for re-entering the country after being separated from their children or for not having a driver’s license.

We need to end family detention. The detention of families, most of which come to our country seeking protection under our laws, is an affront to the values our nation was founded upon.

Our immigration policies must be consistent with our historical commitment to provide protection and due process to those fleeing violence and persecution. We must stand up for the rights of the powerless and extend proper legal protection to children and other vulnerable immigrants. We cannot tolerate calls to send back unaccompanied children and victims of crime and domestic violence to the countries they have fled.

My guiding principle in terms of immigration reform will be to unite families, not divide them up.

We cannot and we should not sweep up millions of men, women, and children – many of whom have been here for years – and throw them out of the country.

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DROUGHT — The vast majority of Nevada is entering its fifth year of drought conditions. What role do you think the federal government should have in helping Nevadans cope with such extreme weather events?

HILLARY CLINTON:

Nevada’s leaders are grappling with how best to respond to this devastating drought that threatens the health and security of Western communities and our agricultural economy. The federal government must work with states to ensure they get the help they need.

This drought is a painful example of how climate change is already affecting our country—and demonstrates why America must lead the world in developing and deploying new clean energy solutions that will power our economy, protect the health of our families, and address the global threat of climate change. Some doubt our capacity to rise to this challenge and want to keep us trapped in the energy economy of the past—but every single day the ingenuity of the American people proves the cynics wrong. States, cities, and rural communities are investing in a future built on clean and efficient energy that spurs small business growth, reduces pollution, creates good jobs, and lowers energy bills. I will work to secure the gains we’ve already made, and continue our progress in making the United States a clean energy superpower.

BERNIE SANDERS:

The enduring drought across the West has created unprecedented challenges for the residents of Nevada, California and other states.

As part of my plan to improve the environment, I would invest $20 billion a year to communities that are most vulnerable to the impacts of climate change so that they have the ability to adapt to drought and other extreme weather conditions.

We must also upgrade the treatment plants that provide safe drinking water and protect our nation’s rivers and lakes. My plan to rebuild America includes $70 billion over five years, to do just that.

Further, we need to upgrade our dams that provide water for agriculture, recreation and energy generation. My plan to rebuild our crumbling infrastructure would provide $60 billion to repair and modernize our dams and levees -- the majority of which will undoubtedly come here, to the West, where the dams are.

Moreover, we must acknowledge that these water crises tend to disproportionally affect poor and minority communities. We must commit to making environmental justice a national priority.

And, when we do these things, we will go a long way to protecting our most precious natural resource, clean water.

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Renewable energy —Why do you think renewable energy should or should not be a national priority? If you think it should be a priority, should the renewable energy industry receive similar incentives and subsidies that the fossil fuel industry has enjoyed?

HILLARY CLINTON:

America must lead the world in developing and deploying clean energy to meet the climate challenge and secure our place as the clean energy superpower of the 21st century. That’s why on my first day as president, I would set a goal of generating enough renewable energy to power every home in the country within ten years, with more than half a billion solar panels installed by the end of my first term.

These goals would expand our solar capacity to 140 gigawatts by the end of 2020, a 700 percent increase from 2014 levels. That’s like having rooftop solar systems on over 25 million homes. We will add more power generation capacity to the grid than during any decade in American history, from a combination of wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, and other forms of renewable electricity. We will create hundreds of thousands of good paying jobs while meeting our international climate targets and preventing thousands of premature deaths and tens of thousands of asthma attacks each year.

I would start by defending and fully implementing President Obama’s Clean Power Plan and launching a Clean Energy Challenge to partner with states, cities, and rural communities that are ready to exceed federal standards and lead on clean energy. And I will slash wasteful taxpayer subsidies for fossil fuels and level the playing field for clean energy.

Nevada is already demonstrating that achieving these kind of ambitious goals is within our reach. Renewable energy production in Nevada has tripled over the past ten years. The solar industry employs 8,800 people, up nearly 3,000 in the last year alone. Public lands are an engine of Nevada’s clean energy economy, with enough solar, wind and geothermal projects underway to power more than 1.5 million homes. As president I will set a new goal to accelerate that progress by expanding renewable energy production on public lands ten-fold within ten years.

BERNIE SANDERS:

When we talk about our responsibilities as human beings and as parents, there is nothing more important than leaving our planet healthy and habitable for our kids and grandchildren. Pope Francis is right. The debate is over. The scientific community has spoken in a virtually unanimous voice. Climate change is real. It is caused by human activity and it is already causing devastating problems in the United States and around the world.

The scientists are telling us that if we do not boldly, this planet could be five to ten degrees Fahrenheit warmer by the end of this century. That could be catastrophic. It would mean more drought, more famine, more rising sea levels, more floods, more ocean acidification, more extreme weather disturbances, more disease and more human suffering. We must not, we cannot, and we will not allow that to happen.

The United States must lead the world in reversing climate change. We can do that if we transform our energy system away from fossil fuels, toward energy efficiency and such sustainable energies such as wind, solar, geo-thermal and biomass. Millions of homes and buildings need to be weatherized, our transportation system needs to be energy efficient, and we need a tax on carbon to accelerate the transition away from fossil fuel and provide funding to transition energy workers into new industries and jobs.

I have introduced a plan to more than double the size of the American clean energy workforce to 10 million by 2030. Taking this action would drive over $500 billion in clean energy investments between now and 2030 by providing tax credits for renewable energy. And this plan is fully paid for by eliminating tax breaks and subsidies for big fossil fuel companies.

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Recreational marijuana —Nevada may approve recreational marijuana in 2016, as have other states. This puts businesses and individuals in a quandary because the federal government still considers marijuana among the most dangerous, destructive drugs in existence. Why or why not would you seek to change official federal policy on marijuana?

HILLARY CLINTON:

I think the states should be the laboratories of democracy on this. Four states now allow recreational use of marijuana. Seventeen states have decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana. And about half the states allow medical use. I would continue the Obama Administration’s enforcement guidelines to allow states to experiment and let this all play out. I also believe we need more research into the medicinal uses of marijuana. So, I support rescheduling marijuana at the federal level, opening the door for further research.

BERNIE SANDERS:

In 2014 there were over 600,000 arrests for marijuana possession in the United States — more than one every minute.

Though most arrests likely lead to a fine and not jail time, an arrest record still follows a person around for a lifetime, making it harder for a person to find a job or housing.

It is an obscenity that we stigmatize so many young Americans with a criminal record for smoking marijuana, but not one major Wall Street executive has been prosecuted for causing the near collapse of our entire economy.

In my view, it is absurd that the federal government classifies marijuana as a Schedule I drug, deeming it as dangerous, with no medical value and potentially as addictive as heroin, another Schedule I drug.

In fact, under the Controlled Substances Act, marijuana is considered more dangerous than oxycodone.

It is time to take marijuana off of the federal list of controlled substances and give states the ability to legalize, regulate, and tax marijuana without interference from the federal government. I introduced a bill in the Senate that would do just that.

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Online gaming —Do you think the federal government should legalize and regulate online gaming, ban it entirely or allow states to accept gamers wherever they are located? Why?

HILLARY CLINTON:

There are certainly significant concerns about online gaming. It’s gambling without the brick and mortar regulatory safeguards that exist in places like Las Vegas and Atlantic City. And I worry about the risks of online gambling by minors. I also understand that in a world of tight budgets, states want to explore any option that allows them to continue providing essential services like early childhood education and health care. If we can address the safety risks, then we can stop short of a ban. Even then, decisions by states to legalize online gambling must put the input and best interests of residents front and center.

BERNIE SANDERS:

I do not think it would be appropriate for the federal government to legalize online gaming at a time when many states are clearly against it.

As we have seen with states banning daily fantasy sports (including Nevada), the issue of online gaming is something states take very seriously.

If a state wanted to take on the task of regulating and vetting online gaming sites, including daily fantasy or online poker, that is one thing.

There is obviously a lot of tax revenue states could gain if they properly regulated and taxed these sites, but we also have to make sure we are not putting into place a system that continues to enrich the owners of these sites at the expense of the users.

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Federal lands management —The majority of Nevada land is currently owned by the American people through the federal government. Do you think it should be turned over to the state to manage? Why or why not?

HILLARY CLINTON:

Public lands in Nevada and across the West provide a wide range of benefits, from open spaces for recreation to resources that support grazing, energy production, and other uses. It is vital that the priorities, needs, and vision of local communities help shape the management of America’s public lands, and I would work to improve and support local, state, and federal collaboration.

BERNIE SANDERS

In my view, we must strengthen, not weaken our public lands system. Our public lands are national treasures for future generations.

Public lands should be managed for the benefit and enjoyment of all Americans, and not just the oil and gas, mining, and timber companies that have had disproportionate influence in management decisions on federal lands.

We can balance natural resource conservation AND appropriate the use of public lands to create jobs and promote economic growth

But to my mind, we must end the sweetheart mining concessions and leasing rate practices that allow these industries to profit at the expense of American taxpayers.

We must ban all fossil fuel extraction from public land, and I have co-sponsored important legislation to do just that.

The debate over ownership of public lands cannot, and must not affect Native American treaty rights and Tribal Sovereignty.

We cannot let the actions of a fringe group of extremists undermine the United States’ historic trust responsibilities to Native peoples.

It is time to modernize that trust relationship, by moving away from paternalism and control, and toward deference and support. As president, I pledge to do just that, and I will look to Native American leaders to guide me in that goal.