By Lindsay Street, Statehouse correspondent | South Carolina has an opportunity to invest in workforce and infrastructure that could create jobs and mitigate climate change, according to conservation voices in the state.
While recent coronavirus pandemic restrictions have tanked the economy, they have also led to record declines in air pollution and carbon emissions, by as much as 8 percent for the year.
“This is absolutely not the reason why we want to see these types of reductions,” said Alan Hancock, energy and climate advocacy director for Coastal Conservation League.
Declines are expected to reverse but conservation leaders say there are ways to make an even bigger, more permanent impact — and grow the economy.
Conservation Voters of South Carolina Executive Director John Tynan said South Carolina should avoid “doubling down on old and outdated” industries in the recovery, saying the state needed to “shift the paradigm.”
“If we change the technology we use to travel, change the technology we use to make energy, we can have our cake and eat it too,” Tynan said. “As we’re looking at how we rebuild and jumpstart the economy, we have a unique opportunity to rebuild in the direction we see the future demanding.”
Here are some policy alternatives:
- Electric vehicle infrastructure. Tynan said the state should invest in and remove any barriers to an electric vehicle system that would dovetail with the state’s existing automotive industry.
- Clean energy jobs. State policy should emphasize clean-energy jobs, he said. South Carolina was poised for solar growth after the 2019 Energy Freedom Act was passed, but now it could be facing a 24 percent decline in development, resulting in 1,325 lost jobs in the state, according to the Solar Energy Industries Association.
- Electricity goal setting. The state should set goals for electricity generation sources, College of Charleston environmental policy professor Matt Nowlin said. This is common practice in other states and is usually aimed at getting private utilities to ramp up solar and wind energy generation. “That’s low-hanging fruit here in South Carolina … that would accelerate some of these trends we are already seeing,” Nowlin said.
- More work-from-home. Employers, including the state, should continue to keep as many workers home as possible, Nowlin said. This keeps emission-belching cars off the road. Hancock said it is possible this could be “one thing that might persist” following the pandemic.
In other recent news:
Pregnant inmate shackling banned. Gov. Henry McMaster signed into law this week a law proposed by S.C. Rep. Nancy Mace, R-Daniel Island, that bans the practice of shackling pregnant inmates in labor or bonding postpartum. It also requires all prison facilities to have menstrual products available to menstruating inmates, and to offer those products for free to those who cannot afford them. Read the bill here.
AccelerateSC committee recommends federal aid spending. A committee for the gubernatorial task force AccelerateSC made recommendations this week on how to spend $1.9 billion from the federal government. The aid is supposed to be directly tied to coronavirus pandemic expenses. Recommendations include: $100 million to expand broadband internet access, $500 million for unemployment trust, $250 million to help hospitals and $160 million to help students catch up on reading and math. Read more.
DiGiorgio passes away. Former Winthrop University President Anthony DiGiorgio, 79, died Wednesday in Tucson, Ariz. According to family members, DiGiorgio, who led the university for 24 years, had been undergoing cancer treatments since late March, and died of a pulmonary embolism. More: The Rock Hill Herald
S.C. Housing offers rental assistance. The state’s housing authority has $5 million to help tenants struggling to make rent this month. The housing authority will send up to $1,500 to an approved tenant’s landlord or property manager on their behalf. Read more.
Attractions reopening today. Museums, zoos, go-kart tracks and other tourist attractions may reopen today ahead of Memorial Day weekend. Gov. Henry McMaster made the announcement Wednesday as the state is in week two of a gradual reopening from coronavirus restrictions. Public schools, large crowds, bars and strip clubs are still shuttered by executive order. Read more.
First Arthur, more on the way. Tropical Storm Arthur, which brushed the S.C. coast last weekend, was the first named storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. This week, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration predicted a busy hurricane season with possible three to six major hurricanes. The official storm season starts June 1 and ends Nov. 30. Read more.
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