Democratic Congressional candidates meet in ‘Climate and Our Environment’ forum
By Mike McCombs
The Island News
Democratic candidates for the 1st Congressional District Mac Deford and Michael B. Moore took part in a forum focusing on Climate and Our Environment on Tuesday, April 23 at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort on Lady’s Island.
The event was hosted by and sponsored by the Citizens’ Climate Lobby.
A panel, made up of members from the Citizens’ Climate Lobby, Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Beaufort, Charleston Climate Coalition and the Sierra Club, asked questions in a round-robin format.
Both candidates said they understood that being elected to Congress would provide an opportunity to make a difference in the area of climate change, cleaner energy and the environment.
“You have the opportunity to touch people,” Moore said.
Deford said, “We can not afford to continue to elect officials that are not going to take (these issues) seriously.”
Both agreed that moving the needle wouldn’t be easy or quick.
“To bring about sustainable change, we need bipartisanshhip,” Deford said. “We also have to have support at the local level and the state level. People have to buy in. It comes down to educating people.”
Moore said issues related to climate change have to be a priority.
“This is an existential crisis,” he said. By 2100, 8 million people will need to be relocated from the coastlines of the Carolinas (because of sea level rise)” he said. “We need these issues to be a cultural phenomenon. People of both parties have to recognize this is something we have to do.”
How to get there is the question, however. Both candidates had things they felt needed to be done sooner rather than later.
Deford said we need to provide incentives for the private sector to make the change to green energy and to invest in research and development. He also advocated the necessity of updating our power grid to be more efficient and effective, even before we try and integrate more green energy sources.
Moore said there needed to be more stick with the carrot when it comes to utilities. On top of incentives, he advocated more regulation to force utilities to make progress.
In fact, both candidates strongly advocated better enforcement and regulation for utilities, manufacturers and all new industries.
In the area of environmental justice issues, Moore believes more “energy needs to go to the fact that poor, black and brown communities are disproportionately affected by these issues.”
Deford told of a county official in the Lowcountry who told him he opposed increasing sewer capacity because it invited development, leaving poorer communities relying solely on septic tanks.
“It specifically impacts minority communities,” he said.
Deford also addressed how manufacturers dispose of their waste. Rather than continuing to tax the environment, he believes “manufacturers should be investing in and developing closed systems” to handle their waste.
Sea level rise was among the top risks both candidates said we face in the long-term future.
Moore pointed out that not only is the sea level rising, but in the Lowcountry, in many places, the ground level is also falling. As a result, he cited zoning as a critical factor in addressing these issues.
“We have to stop building in places that are compromised,” he said.
Deford said having the infrastructure to deal with sea level rise was critical, especially with the changing climate trends.
“We now have Category 6 hurricanes,” he said. “It’s about making sure we have the infrastructure that can withstand these events and the support afterward.”
Both candidates believe advancing technology means nuclear energy could be part of the out energy solutions going forward.
“Improved safety, better solutions for toxic waste and small reactors are the way to go,” Moore said, “but it requires fed investment.”
“It requires us to take a look at which nuclear source we’re using,” Deford said. “Thorium-based power is much safer, with less risk of a meltdown, than uranium.”
In the end, until more progress can be made toward cleaner energy sources and reducing carbon emissions, both candidates embraced the “all of the above” energy strategy.
“Going from fossil fuels to renewable energy is not as simple as flipping a light switch,” Moore said.
“It’s going to take time,” Deford said. “But we have to act with some sense of urgency, speed and realistic expectations.”
The Democratic Primary will be held June 11.
Mike McCombs is the Editor of The Island News and can be reached at TheIslandNews@gmail.com.
