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The South Carolina Republican joined officials from Palmetto Electric Cooperative in Sun City Wednesday to discuss energy policy.
G. Thomas Upshaw, president and CEO of Palmetto Electric, barely had to field a question from the audience even though his cooperative announced a 13 percent rate increase earlier in the week. Instead, the crowd fed off DeMint's push to allow offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, including off the coast of South Carolina. DeMint said he swung his support to offshore drilling in June, citing national security concerns and what he believes will be minimal environmental impact.
DeMint attacked a bipartisan compromise on such drilling that would allow states the option of drilling off their coasts. Supporters include Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C. DeMint says the compromise "is too tangled up with extreme environmentalists."
"Everything bipartisan ends up with more spending, more government and more taxes," DeMint said. "The time to talk is over. The time to fight is now."
DeMint is trying to build a coalition of Republican senators who will agree to vote against any legislation, including a budget, that might include a ban on offshore drilling, even if those votes shut down government.
In an area that relies on the natural beauty of its coast, DeMint still drew applause on the issue and a standing ovation from the Sun City residents after the meeting.
Conservationists don't share DeMint's pro-drilling outlook.
Patrick Moore of the South Carolina Coastal Conservation League, who did not attend the meeting, said in a later interview that offshore drilling is a "red herring" that will reduce gas prices by just pennies years from now and continue a dangerous reliance on a finite resource.
DeMint also said he wants expanded nuclear energy, saying it is environmentally safe and cost-efficient, and pushed for the use of natural gas to fuel cars.
Moore said a short-term plan for natural-gas powered cars isn't practical because it would require a network of new fueling stations.
The senator pointed to the practical impacts high energy prices have on the working poor, but also pointed to much larger stakes if offshore drilling and expanded nuclear power aren't pursued.
"OPEC could probably bring our whole economy to its knees in just a few months by reducing the supply (of oil)," DeMint said. "If we want to survive as a nation, we have to have our own energy."
On the nuclear issue, Moore was less critical.
"Nuclear cannot be taken off of table as we try to address rising carbon emissions," he said.
After the meeting, DeMint said offshore drilling in South Carolina wouldn't compromise the state's beaches since rigs would be far enough offshore to be out of sight. Pipelines would be run ashore in already industrialized parts of the state, rather than in Beaufort County, he said.
Upshaw, the utility CEO, warned the crowd that South Carolina faces rising energy costs because of the price of coal, as well as an energy production capacity that's not as great as it needs to be.
Those issues, coupled with increased demand for electricity in the state, could lead to brown-outs and black-outs as soon as 2013 if state regulators don't approve construction of a proposed coal-fired power plant in Florence County, Upshaw said.
Santee Cooper, the state-owned utility that would built the plant, has maintained it is confident the facility will open on time.
