Renewable energy potential overlooked in South Carolina

Renewable energy potential overlooked in South Carolina

South Carolina may not be known as the Sunshine State, and our region isn't even the Windy West. But the sun does shine, and the wind blows, providing ample opportunity to benefit from solar and wind energy. It's time for our leaders to recognize the benefits of moving away from fossil fuel dependence and developing local energy resources that support the economy while cleaning up our air and reducing global warming pollution.

This summer, the Department of Energy released the results of an 18-month analysis that verified the feasibility of producing 20 percent of the United States' energy using wind energy by 2030. The report, "20% Wind Energy by 2030," recognizes South Carolina as a regional leader in installed capacity. It estimated that 3,500 megawatts of wind energy could be built by 2030, but this is only a fraction of South Carolina's tremendous offshore wind potential.

Recently, Sen. Lindsey Graham and Rep. Jim Clyburn overlooked our state's renewable energy potential during a conference on nuclear energy. They ignored well-documented facts about the wind energy potential off the coast, choosing instead to fall back on old rhetoric, which would ensure that our state continues to export billions of energy dollars to purchase coal and uranium from other states and countries for years to come.

Graham and Clyburn also overlooked the fact that South Carolina, much like the rest of the United States, has not even begun to tap into the sun's power. In fact, South Carolina has nearly twice the amount of solar energy potential as Germany, the global leader in solar installations.

During a time of economic uncertainty, we should seek opportunities to invest in local resources and protect local jobs. Harnessing renewable energy such as wind, solar and biomass will allow us to retain our hard-earned energy dollars and stimulate our local economies. Promoting renewable energy technologies will encourage further investment in S.C.-based companies such as GE Energy and Silicon Solar, which already manufacture wind and solar systems.

We urge Sen. Graham, Rep. Clyburn and all of our elected leaders to embrace this opportunity and support the development of our state's renewable energy potential. Everyone will benefit from a clean energy economy.

COLIN HAGAN
Federal Policy Associate
Greenville

BRANDON BLEVINS
Wind Program Coordinator
Southern Alliance for Clean Energy
Knoxville, Tenn