10 gubernatorial hopefuls meet on Orangeburg stage for first-of-a-kind debate

ORANGEBURG — Ten gubernatorial candidates managed not to blow too much hot air Tuesday as they took on an issue rarely raised on the campaign trail but of pivotal importance to the Lowcountry: the fusion of conservation and economic development.

This comes at a time when the tug-of-war over federal climate change legislation is about to become front and center and the Charleston community works to preserve its resources as the aeronautics industry sprouts around Boeing Co.’s Dreamliner assembly line.

The S.C. Natural Resources Society provided a forum along with ETV for “The Big Picture Election Special: Spotlight on the Candidates” at Orangeburg-Calhoun Technical College, exactly one year before the state’s next governor is elected. A crowd of about 250 gathered for the 90-minute debate.

The candidates played up the need for leadership without making lofty and empty promises. They also worked to show how they stood apart from the field.

Top of the list is state Sen. Larry Grooms, a Bonneau Republican, who was the only one to doubt the scientific existence of man-made global warming. Grooms said he wouldn't interfere with businesses and high-paying jobs for an “unproven science.”

Democrat state Sen. Vincent Sheheen of Camden tried to describe a vision for the environment that extends beyond his candidacy, including the introduction of state legislation to put rules in place for the use of surface water.

While all the Republicans in the debate stressed nuclear as the state's preferred energy source in the future, Attorney General Henry McMaster, a Republican, was particularly emphatic.

“The path to prosperity in South Carolina is lit with nuclear power,” he said.

Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod, a Democrat, also left the audience with one takeaway point: Career politicians and their rhetoric stand in the way of South Carolina's progress. McLeod said, if elected, he would not seek any other office in the future.

State Sen. Robert Ford also didn't take on the environmental issues head-on, but rather repeated that the role of a governor is to work with the Legislature, which sits in the driver's seat in South Carolina.

Columbia attorney Dwight Drake, a Democrat, was pointedly honest about the limitations of a governor in influencing major environmental issues. He said that to talk about drilling for oil off the coast is moot because federal law prohibits contracts until 2014. The governor needs to be focused on the “here and now,” he said.

Third District U.S. Rep. Gresham Barrett of Westminster, a Republican, said the key is to tap the potential for renewable energy and the power it has to create jobs.

“You can have it all,” Barrett.

That was the closest a Republican and Democrat came to agreeing during the debate.

Superintendent of Education Jim Rex, a Democrat, said “clean and green and competitive” belong in the same sentence.

“That is the direction the entire planet is heading,” Rex said.

State Rep. Nikki Haley of Lexington, a Republican, stayed close to a topic that is the hallmark of her campaign: improving the business climate. When asked about whether to restructure the state Department of Health and Environmental Control, Haley said reform was necessary because the agency has a reputation for stalling business plans.

Lt. Gov. André Bauer of Charleston, a Republican, stood out for staying on point, all night. He answered the question asked and stuck to environmental issues with detailed responses.

Bauer said the state needs to support green industry by offering tax credits and eliminating corporate taxes for businesses that meet certain clean standards.

“We would be known as the green capital of the world,” Bauer said.

Other possible candidates are also raising cash for gubernatorial run, but they did not participate Tuesday. They are the Rev. Amos Elliott of Charleston, Oscar Lovelace of Prosperity and Robert Gregory Powell of Lexington.

Reach Yvonne Wenger at 803-926-7855 or ywenger@postandcourier.com.