Friday’s editorial takes a look at
proposals to allow third-party businesses to lease solar panels to S.C.
consumers:
Solar power certainly isn’t perfect.
Those pesky clouds, for instance, can be a major problem. But it is one more
bullet in the renewable energy gun and one more way to take advantage of a
constantly replenished source of energy that will move us closer to the goal of
energy independence.
The problem in South Carolina? Solar power has largely
remained the province of utilities, large businesses and a few wealthy
homeowners. The biggest solar project in the state, at Boeing’s plant in North Charleston, for
instance, makes up about 65 percent of the entire state’s solar capacity, which
tops out around 4 megawatts. Santee Cooper’s largest solar project, located in Myrtle Beach just south
of The Sun News, can generate about a third of a megawatt. Compare that to the
26,000 megawatts produced in the state from all energy sources and it becomes
clear that the sun isn’t exactly a major part of South Carolina’s energy solution.
Sunday’s main editorial offers a
glance at some more local issues that we’ll be paying attention to as the
legislature gets in gear this year:
The 120th General Assembly of South
Carolina began its work this past Tuesday with a long to-do list already
waiting. An unprecedented hacking of the state Department of Revenue requires
urgent attention to cybersecurity. Ethics issues that have entangled prominent
state leaders have renewed calls for a revamping of the S.C. Ethics Commission
and legislative ethics committees. Education leaders have proposed a dramatic
rewrite of the school funding formulas. The governor and Republicans continue
to push for deeper tax cuts, particularly for manufacturers.
And looming over it all are two
lawsuits in front of the S.C. Supreme Court that threaten to unmake the state
budget, one that seeks to do away with the state’s many tax exemptions and
another long-running suit that argues the state does not devote enough money to
school funding. Either could throw funding deliberations for a loop when or if
they’re settled.
But in this busy swirl of statewide
problems are also many local issues that have the attention of Grand Strand
folks or that at least deserve our attention.
If you're not an avid reader of the Federal Register, you may have missed the announcement yesterday that the Interior Department is opening up about 1,900 square miles of ocean off the Carolinas' coast to the possibility of wind turbines, with a lease auction to take place perhaps as early as next year.
It's good news for North Carolina, which was the focus of the announcement, but it could also be good news for South Carolina, particularly the Grand Strand. Two of the areas lie due east of the Myrtle Beach area. (Partial map below, full map here.) North Myrtle Beach and its North Strand Coastal Wind Team have long been trying to position itself to take advantage of any wind industry, and this could be the city's chance to get in on the ground floor. Depending on how serious things get and how realistic this becomes, it could also be a good opportunity for the Myrtle Beach Regional Economic Development Corp. (they really need to get a shorter name) to step in and flex their muscle.
Sunday’s editorial urges some more excitement
and interest on the state level when it comes to wind energy:
“We’re just watching the turbines go around.”
– North Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Marc Jordan, on the latest
action in the region’s wind energy initiatives.
What happened to the state’s
excitement about wind energy? After what had been a strong, united effort a few
years ago to push into the forefront of the emerging industry, the state effort
has largely stagnated.
When a Black Friday shopper in Myrtle Beach was shot in the leg during that orgiastic spending spree last weekend, it made news around the nation. The story showed up on websites and in newspapers from Sacramento, Calif., to Pittsburgh, Pa., to Jacksonville, Fla., and dozens of other cities in between. The interest is perhaps understandable: An innocent shopper was brazenly assaulted in the midst of what should be a merry holiday tradition. It’s an exciting, shocking and unexpected story.
But it’s too often that those stories of mayhem and crime and the worst of the world’s ugliness occupy the front of our brain. There’s no doubt that we’re still living in tough times, dealing with crime and poverty and need. But that makes it more important than ever to trumpet the good news when it comes our way, to hold it up as a talisman of optimism, assuring us that good times will come again.
Friday’s editorial explores the cons and possible pros of trying to cap gas prices:
We all share the frustration with rising gas prices that led to North Myrtle Beach Sen. Dick Elliott’s proposal for a year of statewide price controls on wholesale gas sales. The prices we’re paying at the pump this month are nearly a dollar higher than they were a year ago.
But would Elliott’s suggestion really work? We have major doubts, not least because it would represent a rejection of our state’s free market underpinnings. On Wednesday night, Myrtle Beach resident John Bonsignor thanked Elliott for his work and asked, “What’s going to be the big deal for one year? Let’s see what’s going to happen in one year.”
Could you use a nice breeze these days? Us too, as Sunday’s editorial explains:
It’s hot. And sticky. There’s little to no rain on the horizon. And none of us like it much.
If you don’t believe us, check Twitter. Online salons such as Twitter and Facebook have tallied more than 4 million references to the heat so far this month, according to Mastermind Marketing, which tracks social media. The weather is outpacing talk of the debt ceiling in Washington 24 to 1.
Friday’s editorial notes some promising efforts toward alternative energy solutions in the region.
As The Associated Press reported this week, gas prices across the country continue to rise, seemingly capriciously, despite slow demand and plenty of supply. Filling up your tank costs about $5 more than this time last year.
Energy-conscious readers can take some comfort in a slate of recent encouraging news. On Wednesday, Gov. Mark Sanford cut the ribbon in Columbia on the first of what’s hoped to be a statewide network of electric vehicle charging stations.
Sunday’s editorial urges decision makers to put serious effort into attracting a wind industry to our area.
The recent acknowledgment by Santee Cooper that enough wind blows within striking distance of our coastline to generate significant energy, 1 to 5 gigawatts, represents a major, concrete economic-development opportunity that the Grand Strand ought not let blow by.
Throughout the utility’s experiments off our coast, we have been cautiously optimistic about the prospect of a new energy right in our region’s front yard. The science, of course, should guide the process, and no one ought to be tilting at windmills that won’t turn. But at a recent forum in North Charleston, an alliance of Coastal Carolina researchers and Santee Cooper officials both gave good news: The yearlong wind study they’ve conducted just out past Winyah Bay confirms the potential for wind energy generation here.
Sunday’s editorial examines the varying forms of offshore
energy production before South
Carolina.
The best approaches to energy
reforms - the comprehensive packages that U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham has taken
part in crafting - have viewed opening the Atlantic Ocean
to oil exploration as a temporary trade-off to ease the path to harder tasks,
such as reducing the amount of carbon pollution or increasing our use of
renewable energy sources.
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