Hurricane Irene threatens S.C.; Demint denies climate change science

Hurricane Irene churns over the Atlantic in this NASA image. Now a category 3 storm it is building in intensity and tracking north-westward towards the Carolina coasts where it is predicted it will reach category 4 strength.

UPDATE: AUGUST 26, 7:00 PM EST, HURRICANE IRENE IS SKIRTING THE SOUTH CAROLINA COASTLINE. IT HAS NOW DROPPED FROM A CATEGORY 3 STORM TO A CATEGORY 2 STORM. GOOD NEWS FOR THE U.S. HOWEVER IT IS TRACKING FURTHER WEST (INLAND) FROM YESTERDAY'S EXPECTATIONS AND THEREFORE POSES AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS THREAT. ODDLY, TEA PARTY PUNDIT, GLENN BECK HAS CALLED IT "A BLESSING."

South Carolina is particularly vulnerable to severe storms like Hurricane Irene  which is expected to hit the United States as a category four storm tomorrow. Severe weather is a constant threat to the State's valuable tourism industry as they cause heavy beach erosion and threaten the Port of Charleston and other critical infrastructure.

Category 4 hurricane defined: wind speeds between 131 and 155 mph; waves 13-18 feet high. They "tend to produce more extensive curtainwall failures, with some complete roof structural failures on small residences. Heavy, irreparable damage and near complete destruction of gas station canopies and other wide span overhang type structures are common. Mobile and manufactured homes are leveled. These storms cause extensive beach erosion, while terrain may be flooded far inland. Total and long-lived electrical and water losses are to be expected, possibly for many weeks. Source: Wikipedia and CBS News

The vast majority of climate scientists attribute the increase in severe storms to man made-fossil fuel generated global warming. Nonetheless as a friend to major oil and energy interests who contribute to his campaign and PAC, South Carolina's Senator Jim Demint consistently denies science while South Carolina pays the price.

Read: Jim Demint Scoffs at climate change science even as South Carolina beaches are threatened

Read: Koch Industries and other big energy industry interests major donors to Demint and his PAC

Senator Demint's office offered this guidance for constituents as they face the prospect of facing Hurricane Irene and the loss of property and life. 

August 23, 2011

Be Prepared for Hurricane Season

by Jim's Staff

As we continue to monitor Hurricane Irene’s progress towards the East Coast, South Carolina remains at high risk for major effects from the storm.

Be sure to stay tuned to local news for the latest updates on the path of Hurricane Irene and if you live in a coastal area, please make sure that you know your evacuation route.

Everyone should have an personal emergency plan in place for them and their family, whether for hurricanes or any type of disaster.  Please take a few minutes to review the following information: it will be time well-spent!

Resources:

General information on emergency preparation: http://www.ready.gov

Get hurricane current updates & South Carolina-specific info: http://www.scemd.org/

Find your closest Red Cross shelter: http://www.redcross.org/contactus/

Please contact our Columbia office, 803-771-6112, or our Greenville office at 864-233-5366 if we can be of additional assistance.

Jim Demint scoffs at climate change while erosion eats away at South Carolina's beaches and tourism industry

In response to last winters record snowfalls in Washington, DC Senator Jim Demint tweeted:

It's going to keep snowing in DC until Al Gore cries "uncle"

In June 2010 Jim Demint wrote on his blog:

Remember what Obama said the night he secured the Democratic presidential nomination: “This [is] the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” Only a liberal would believe that tinkering with the levers of government could ever accomplish such planetary change.

Senator Demint refuses to acknowledge that climate change caused by human activity is a direct threat to the environment even when unusually rapid patterns of erosion damage South Carolina's precious beaches. Scientists believe the threat to the beaches is due to hurricanes which have increased in severity in recent years due to global warming and to rising ocean tides.



Unusually vicious hurricanes like Hurricane Katrina that destroyed New Orleans are more likely to occur due to man made climate change. Yet it seems that Sen. Jim Demint would rather see South Carolina vulnerable to this kind of destruction than do anything about it.

Senator Demint scoffs at scientific evidence even when it damages his home state. The State of South Carolina and the federal government will now have to invest millions to build up (renourish) South Carolina shorelines, an essential component of the tourism industry which has been recognized as one of the only bright spots on the State's economy. And the question that looms large: will the funds be there? The loss of critical federal stimulus money has meant South Carolina has had to cut back on boosting tourism in the State. Read about it in the Daily Me.

Because chronic poverty and unemployment plague the State, the importance of tourism to South Carolina can't be overemphasized.Currently tourism (2006 figures) contributes $10.9 billion a year to Gross State Product and employs approximately 216,000 people." Source: http://www.scprt.com/files/Marketing%20Partners/tourism%20action%20plan.pdf

Learn more about how erosion threatens the South Carolina shore from Treehugger.com: http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010/12/erosion-eating-up-south-caroina-beaches.php?campaign=th_rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+treehugger

Read about a recent study that proves sea surface temperatures are a direct cause of increased hurricane activity and severity in the Atlantic Ocean. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/01/080130130647.htm

Investor's journal agrees: Demint's South Carolina is 6th worst run state in the USA

24/7 Wall St. says tourism is one of the bright spots in South Carolina's economic development strategy, yet erosion threatens the State's coastal areas the focus of much of that development. Nonetheless, Senator Demint continues to scorn scientific evidence that climate change is responsible for much of the damage.

While the State of South Carolina promotes tourism (and the low wage service jobs that industry requires) the online journal for equity investors, 24/7 Wall St. has completed "one of the most comprehensive studies of state financial management ever performed by the mainstream media."

Their study ranked South Carolina 44 out of the 50 states, (tied with Mississippi). 24/7 Wall St. claims their study is "based on evaluation principles used in the award-winning Best Run States In America ratings published by the Financial World Magazine during the 1990s."

Here's what they say about the economic disaster that is Jim Demint's South Carolina.

Tied for 44th (best run states). South Carolina
Debt per Capita: $8,013 (34th)
Unemployment Rate: 11% (45th)
Home Price Change (’06 – ’09): 12.3% (10th)
Median Household Income: $42,442 (42nd)

South Carolina has done an admirable job at marketing itself as a tourist destination, and has the 10th best improvement in property values from 2006 to 2009. In terms of the economy, however, the Palmetto State is in the bottom ten in median household income, high school completion, and poverty rates. The state has the worst violent crime rate in the country- 731 per 100,000.

Basic business assumptions behind South Carolina's poor evaluation

The study assumes: "Well-run states have a great deal in common with well-run corporations. Books are kept balanced. Investment is prudent. Debt is sustainable. Innovation is prized. Workers are well-chosen and well-trained. Executives are picked based on merit and not “politics.”

Austerity policies = bad management: prosperity for the few, poverty for many in South Carolina

South Carolina's experiment in right-to-work, low wages, high debt, low taxes, poor education and a lousy social safety net mean prosperity for the very few at the expense of the many. Is this bleak third world reality the future we want for America?

Want to see which State 24/7 Wall St. rated last: It's Mitch McConnell's Kentucky. See for yourself: http://mitchmcconnells-kentucky.blogspot.com/

For more information, please read the full article at:http://247wallst.com/2010/10/04/the-best-and-worst-run-states-in-america-a-survey-of-all-fifty/