Concerns rise with the seas: protecting coast, while facing realities

January 18 , 2007, The State
by Sammy Fretwell

COLUMBIA SC-Gov. Mark Sanford, acknowledging the threat of global warming, on Wednesday proposed a climate-change “stakeholders” conference to address the issue in South Carolina.

In his annual State of the State speech, Sanford said coastal areas face major challenges from growth and from more intense storms caused by the Earth’s changing climate.

Sanford said he favors ways to encourage more energy-efficient and wind-resistant buildings.

“We plan to fully explore those issues with a full range of stakeholders over this next year,” he said.

Global warming has been a topic of increasing discussion the past year in South Carolina by state and national conservation groups. Environmental Defense, a national group, has backed a push to raise awareness. Many conservation groups favor a state climate-change commission, similar to one formed in North Carolina.

Sanford’s comments follow a briefing Wednesday by conservation groups for state senators that included a plea to pass legislation to address climate change. During the briefing, they said rising global temperatures threaten South Carolina as polar ice melts and the sea level rises.

Sanford said he wants to invite Andres Duany, a renowned community planner, to South Carolina for a conference on land use.

Because insurance rates are rising along the coast, the governor said, we need to take a “closer look at how we grow here over the years ahead. That’s especially the case, given the fact that a million people will come here to South Carolina between now and 2030.

“No matter how many lanes you build, you will have evacuation and density problems that in turn impact the cost of insurance there on the coast.’’

S.C. Sierra Club director Dell Isham said he’s encouraged that the governor addressed the issue of global warming.

“It’s a good start. I hope the Legislature will take this challenge seriously. How we respond to this really will determine quality of life for human beings for generations to come.’’