What’s At Stake

Climate change is the single greatest threat to Georgetown and Horry County’s cultural heritage, economic vitality, and ecological diversity. While every part of South Carolina is at risk for cataclysmic disruption of the ecosystems we have long taken for granted, coastal counties like Georgetown and Horry face the most serious consequences of climate change—rising coastline, stronger storms, altered growing seasons. Awareness is growing rapidly among the public that we must act now to address climate change, before the window of opportunity closes, and we are forced to live with the consequences.

Challenges

Despite abundant renewable resources, our state relies heavily on polluting, out-of-state fuel sources to meet its energy needs.

For example, $740 million leaves our state each year in order to buy Appalachian coal to fuel dirty coal plants that pollute our land, water and air. The Pee Dee coal plant proposed for Kingsburg would do just that.

Out-of-state special interests have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars trying to convince South Carolinians of two myths: first, that coal is “clean,” and second, that coal is essential to South Carolina’s energy future.

Economists and renewable business entrepreneurs disagree, and have demonstrated conclusively that efficiency and renewable energy has the potential to power our growing needs cheaper, cleaner and more efficiently than continued reliance on dirty coal.

Next Steps

• Local municipalities are already thinking globally and acting locally by taking steps to reduce the carbon footprint of city and county governments.
  
  
• Advocate vigorously for efficiency and renewables and against additional coal-fired electricity generation.
  
  
• Find incentives for alternative energy sources that can be produced in South Carolina. While cotton and tobacco once dominated Georgetown and Horry’s rural landscape, biofuels like switch-grass can reinvigorate rural economies.

Fast Facts

If SC were a country, we would be the 38th largest contributor of carbon emissions in the world.

With over 3,000 miles of tidal shoreline, SC is especially vulnerable to the threat of rising seas.

A bipartisan poll in 2007 found that while Republicans and Democrats disagree on the cause of climate change, a majority of both agree that urgent action is needed to reduce carbon emissions.

For more information call John Ramsburgh, Sierra Club at 803-256-8474
or Jennifer Rennicks, Southern Alliance for Clean Energy, at 828-254-6776