Could SC Have a Coal Ash Problem?

Environmental advocacy group Earth Justice has released a new report citing South Carolina as one of the states with the least oversight of "coal ash" retention. For those not familiar with the term, coal ash is one by-product of burning coal to produce electricity. Coal ash is known to contain hazardous materials like arsenic, lead, and selenium, but is often stored around the producing plant in large reservoirs because the waste is classified as an inert material (Dewan, 2008).

If the claims made by Earth Justice are correct, then the reservoirs in question could pose a potential hazard to South Carolinians. For example, a major coal ash spill infamously destroyed homes and poisoned a river in Kingston, TN in 2008. With environmental protection's chronic under-funding in SC, could a situation like this happen to one of our rivers? Is this a legitimate concern, or a watchdog group seeking to churn up public concern over a non-issue?

More Eyes in the Sky?

Photo courtesy The State online

The Columbia City Council is moving forward with plans to put up more surveillance cameras around the downtown area. Since concerns about violent crime around the city have increased (rightly or not), do you think adding cameras will make our streets more secure?

What are the costs of having streets that are electronically monitored?

KIDS Count Map

Related to the post below, here is a map describing the geography of states' ranks by order of children's issues. The darker the blue, the worse the conditions for children in that state.

Map from Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT Data Center

What trends do you see in this map? Do you have any ideas about why the rankings are distributed in the way we see here?

You can look through the Annie E. Casey Foundation's data and create your own maps based on a variety of variables (education, poverty, baby birth weight, etc.) by going to their Data Center.

New Child Poverty Data

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has just released its latest data about measures of child poverty in the U.S. Notable facts about children in SC:

• Percent of births to single mothers: 45.4%
• Percent of births to mothers with less than high school education: 23.9%
• Number of children living in poverty: 258,848 
• State rank for key indicators for children: 45th

These numbers certainly seem to be daunting and the state rank gives us a sense of context (relative to other states) BUT...

What do these numbers and rates really mean? Are these problems increasing or decreasing in intensity? You can follow this link and read for yourself how these numbers compare with measures from previous years.

Bad News for SC Commuters

Another dimension of public funding deficits facing the state will be our capacity to keep our roadways maintained through the economic recession. As someone who presently commutes about 30 minutes daily to and from Columbia, I have observed that the existing infrastructure is already worn fairly thin (though traffic-wise not as bad as other places I have frequently driven through, like Jacksonville or Orlando).

SCDOT Seeks Emergency Funding - Post &Courier

Public Protest of Rejected Education Funds

Just a brief follow-up from last week's entry about the state rejecting $143 million in federal education funding. On my way in to campus, I saw a group of people in front of the Rutledge Building off Bull St. Always interested in a good social movement, I drove by and saw these protesters...

SC Rejects $143 Million in Federal Bailout for Public Schools

For those of you interested in inequalities in local education, this recent decision to refuse $143 million in federal aid for public schools may be worth looking into.

South Carolina Turns Down $143 Million in Public School Funding - The State

Examine the dynamics between the political systems and the educational systems in the state. Why do you think that state officials are unwilling to accept the funding, citing concerns with federal involvement with state affairs?