For state Sen. Chris Steineger, it makes sense to combine an idea from the left — environmental conservation — with an idea from the right — fiscal responsibility.
Steineger, a Democrat from the 6th District, spoke about the importance of the two concepts and also about a possible run for governor during a talk at Emporia State University Thursday evening.
“This is something I believe in,” Steineger said, and described his Depression-era grandparents, who learned to save and conserve resources.
“Those folks had very little,” he said. “They had to be thrifty.”
Steineger spoke about trimming waste in a number of ways, from conserving energy to increasing efficiency to recycling as ways to achieve this form of sustainability.
“There was an idea of maximizing resources that my parents and grandparents had to do that was embedded in me as I grew up,” he said, adding that the fiscal and environmental ideas began to bind together when he was in college and the environmental movement was gaining steam.
Talking about the current economy, he said there is little evidence of fiscal responsibility.
For more on Steineger's appearance, see today's print edition.