The Opinion Blog

Better Living Through Chemistry

Thursday’s editorial praises U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s compromise proposal on climate-change and energy-independence legislation.

Three years ago, when U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham announced his support for a bipartisan immigration compromise to increase border security, reform the visa system and crack down on employers who hire illegal immigrants, hard-core immigration opponents seized on the bill's path to citizenship for undocumented workers already in the U.S. as “amnesty” and managed to derail the entire effort.

Undaunted, Graham has returned to the fray, announcing this month his support for a “tripartisan” energy reform framework with Sens. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.). The framework has two broad arms – curbing carbon pollution while creating new energy sources – that should provide a pathway to compromise.

Wind in our Sails

Friday’s secondary editorial suggests local leaders seek ways to capitalize on a major new wind facility planned for Charleston.

Thanks to a $98 million kickstart (dare we say stimulus?) announced this week, coastal South Carolina may find itself poised at the forefront of a the nation's developing wind-power industry.

Saving up for a windy day

Wednesday's editorial highlights the many benefits of exploring wind power off the coast of Georgetown.

Economic blows have come in cascades in Georgetown of late, as its port and steel mill have alternated over recent months with ever-worsening news for their employees.

These woes reflect the weakened state of American industry and will thus be difficult for local leaders to counter, though some are valiantly trying. A report this weekend, however, suggested one bright hope on the horizon: the wind-energy industry.

Go ahead and drill; you won't even notice it

From the afternoon e-mail ... Petroleum geologist Tom Temples explains why offshore drilling for oil and gas shouldn't alarm anyone:

By Tom J. Temples

A clear understanding of the dramatic changes that have taken place in offshore drilling over the past 40 years is a prerequisite to sound and wise policy-making today, for much has been accomplished. After an oil spill from a rig off the California coast at Santa Barbara in 1969, the oil industry adopted new and improved safety measures to guard against any further accidents.

Obama seeks to alter America's trajectory

Ripped from the wires ... Charles Krauthammer explains what President Obama is really up to:

 By CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER

Not a great speech, but extremely consequential. If Barack Obama succeeds, his joint address to Congress will be seen as historic -- indeed as the foundational document of Obamaism. As it stands, it constitutes the boldest social democratic manifesto ever issued by a U.S. president.

Faith-based coal-plant opposition too risky

On Sunday, The Sun News reaffirmed its support for Santee Cooper's proposed Florence County coal-fire electricity plant:

We respectfully disagree with Gov. Mark Sanford's faith-based argument last week that current S.C. electricity-generating capacity plus enhanced conservation measures can tide our state over until new nuclear-power plants get built. In adding his voice to those who oppose Santee Cooper's proposed coal-fired power plant in Florence County, the governor is betting that the two nuclear plants proposed for the V.C. Summer Nuclear Station near Jenkinsville can receive federal regulatory approval and be constructed within 10 years - enough time, he says, to shore up the state's baseline generating capacity.

We wouldn't take that bet, for two reasons:

Alternative energy nice but ultimately unreliable

Today's editorial argues that like or or not, our communities really need that Santee Cooper coal-fired generating plant:

Listen to the S.C. conservation community, and you'd think Santee Cooper, which is vying to build a coal-fired generating plant in Florence County, was intent on poisoning human and beast alike while rendering the planet unlivable. We don't buy that and neither should readers.

Why Detroit doesn't deserve a bailout

Ripped from the wires ... Tom Friedman makes a powerful case against a government bailout of the U.S. auto companies:

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

Last September, I was in a hotel room watching CNBC early one morning. They were interviewing Bob Nardelli, the CEO of Chrysler, and he was explaining why the auto industry, at that time, needed $25 billion in loan guarantees. It wasn't a bailout, he said. It was a way to enable the car companies to retool for innovation. I could not help but shout back at the TV screen: "We have to subsidize Detroit so that it will innovate? What business were you people in other than innovation?'' If we give you another $25 billion, will you also do accounting?

We must avoid getting readdicted to oil

Ripped from the wires ... Tom Friedman argues that we shouldn't allow the decline in oil prices to distract us from the quest for clean energy sources:

By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

The 2 is back. Last week, U.S. retail gasoline prices fell below $3 a gallon _ to an average of $2.91 -- the lowest level in almost a year. Why does this news leave me with mixed feelings?

McCain has the better take on our energy future

Ripped from the wires ... An Illinois business law professor argues that voters should worry about Barack Obama's ambiguity on traditional energy sources such as coal, oil and nuclear power"

By Andrew P. Morriss

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. -- Two cheers -- but not three -- for John McCain's energy plan.

Like Obama's, McCain's plan is filled with the vague generalities about "energy independence'' and reducing carbon emissions. And we need to remember that whichever team wins the election will have to negotiate energy policy with a Democratic-controlled Congress dominated by ideologues like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Nonetheless, the McCain plan has two important virtues.