Recent editorials from South Carolina newspapers:

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Sept. 1

The Index-Journal on a decade-long process to construct a federally-approved spillway:

You are dam right, Steve Brown.

Pardon our language … but look more closely. That wasn’t a typo.

Government, in case you don’t know, can get messy. It can be meddlesome. It can be frustrating. It can move slower than the sloth in “Zootopia.” And it can be infuriating.

That’s the case with respect to the Buzzard Roost dam project that the folks at Federal Energy Regulatory Commission told Greenwood County it had to do. And pronto. Way back in 2007, Greenwood County voters headed to the polls and said “yes” to adding a penny to the sales tax being collected so we could collect the money the county would need to build a spillway so that in the event of a major flooding catastrophe, such as would result from a major earthquake, the county wouldn’t flood its neighbors who would be downstream.

Apparently FERC, in its infinite wisdom, had determined the need and determined it was an urgent need. County leaders, however, thought what FERC was proposing was a bit extreme for this region. FERC apparently had us on target for a spillway the likes of which would be suitable in the event of a tsunami off the coast of Japan.

So began the negotiations between county leaders and FERC. Plans were drawn up and presented until, finally, in December it appeared a satisfactory plan was getting FERC’s blessing. Heck, we won’t bore you with all the particulars of county government’s interaction - costly interaction - with the federal government folks.

Here’s the thing. When one government official is as exasperated with another government entity as Steve Brown, County Council chairman, was you know it’s got to be bad. And it is.

FERC has been dragging this on and out far too long.

“It seems like they don’t report to anyone. They do exactly what they want to do, when they want to do, how they want to do it and they’re some of the most arrogant bureaucrats that I have ever dealt with in 40-something years I’ve been in government,” Brown said.

Well more than a decade since voters approved the penny tax to abide by the federal agency’s decision, Buzzard Roost is unchanged. Building costs, however, are not and so we can expect that because FERC has moved at sloth speed the costs the county will incur will be far greater than they could have been. And, more important, greater than they should be.

Meanwhile, the county has $21 million and change tucked away for when FERC finally gives its blessing to move forward. And yes, it’s in an interest-bearing account. But don’t expect that interest to have kept pace with escalating costs.

Should you be upset with FERC, too? Dam straight.

Online: http://www.indexjournal.com

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Aug. 31

The Post and Courier on the need to streamline disaster relief programs as natural disasters become more frequent:

Hurricane Dorian could … batter the East Coast with devastating winds, rain and coastal flooding. The powerful storm’s impact on the Charleston area and the rest of South Carolina is still hard to predict.

But in the aftermath, affected residents will begin to pick up the pieces and rebuild.

As South Carolina residents, we should offer a helping hand to our neighbors in need. We should ask our elected officials and nonprofit organizations and community leaders to lend assistance.

It takes time and a lot of work, but communities affected by hurricanes can emerge stronger after a storm than they were before it.

Hurricane Dorian, which stands to become the first major storm of the season to make landfall in the United States, offers some important warnings as well.

As a nation, we must streamline our disaster relief programs. The number of so-called “billion-dollar” natural disasters - events that cause $1 billion or more in damages - appears to be increasing.

Last year’s total of 11 such events was the fourth-highest on record, behind 2017, 2011 and 2016, according to the National Centers for Environmental Information.

The cumulative cost of these catastrophes is large, of course. Last year’s toll has been estimated at $91 billion. But it is also proving challenging to move funds through the political and bureaucratic hurdles that stand between federal coffers and the local communities that need the help.

South Carolina, for example, is still waiting on millions of dollars in federal aid tied to hurricanes and tropical weather that have impacted the state each year since 2015.

We must also rethink our disaster spending more broadly.

The federal government has an obvious responsibility to assist with recovery after storms, fires, floods and other natural phenomena. But it ought to also make sensible investments in resiliency and mitigation to prevent future problems or lessen their severity.

Building back coastal communities without adding protections against hurricanes and sea level rise, for example, is fiscally irresponsible and morally problematic. Each billion-dollar disaster must be a chance to strengthen our defenses.

And that should also include a stronger commitment to tackling climate change.

Climate change isn’t causing hurricanes. But it is making them more destructive, and it is exacerbating a number of other weather-related problems that threaten communities all across the country.

Ignoring or failing to adequately address this reality carries tremendous costs both human and economic. Some strategies for fighting climate change, such as energy conservation, can save money in the long run. Others, such as investing in cleaner transportation options, can improve public health.

The consequences of inaction, however, are mounting debt - this year’s tally of billion-dollar disasters is already above the 25-year average - and human suffering.

The first priority during a disaster like Hurricane Dorian must be safety and survival. We must help ensure that people affected by storms have shelter, food, clothing and the best possible chance to return to something resembling a normal life as quickly as possible.

But we must also put Dorian in context as part of larger, longer-term threat to our nation and prepare for a future of unpredictable and severe weather.

Online: https://www.postandcourier.com

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Aug. 28

The Times and Democrat on the impact of opioid abuse on senior citizens:

Inside the crisis over opioid abuse is a crisis for senior citizens.

The focus of the opioid crisis in the U.S. is on younger victims. But, according to senior advocate Dan Weber, “the substance abuse epidemic is having a growing impact on older Americans, the fastest growing segment of the population.”

The president of the Association of Mature American Citizens says there is substantial research showing addiction to alcohol and prescription and illegal drugs among senior citizens has gone unnoticed for too long.

Weber calls a report by the inspector general at the Health and Human Services Department published in 2017 a wakeup call. The report revealed that “in 2016, one out of every three beneficiaries received a prescription opioid through Medicare Part D. Half a million of them received high amounts of opioids - an average daily MED of 120 mg for at least three months of the year.

“Even more concerning, almost 90,000 beneficiaries are at serious risk of misuse or overdose. These include beneficiaries who received extreme amounts of opioids - more than 2-1/2 times the level that CDC (Centers for Disease Control) recommends avoiding - for the entire year. They also include beneficiaries who appeared to be doctor shopping (i.e., received high amounts of opioids and had multiple prescribers and pharmacies).”

The AMAC chief said action is needed, beginning with doctors.

“Physicians need to take the lead and begin offering counseling to older patients at risk of addiction. They also need to offer to prescribe opioid alternatives when treating patients suffering from chronic pain.”

Here’s the way it works. Chronic pain is widespread among the country’s 50-plus population and one of the easiest and most effective ways of treating pain can involve the use of opioids. The danger is in the fact that legitimately prescribed opioid pain killers can become addictive and, ultimately, can lead to transitioning to illicit drugs.

And, Weber points out, the result is seniors are not only the fastest growing segment of the U.S. population, they are also one of the fastest growing populations with diagnosed opioid use disorders.

Pharmacist Kathleen Cameron is also senior director of the National Council on Aging. In an article published on the PainAgainstPain website, she reported that a survey of 200 organizations serving seniors “found that 81% of those organizations agree their clients have little knowledge of safe and affordable alternatives to opioids. NCOA research also uncovered that while 70% of these organizations have had to increase their efforts to address the opioid epidemic, less than 28% routinely screen vulnerable aging clients for opioid abuse or dependency. NCOA believes resources need to be invested in educating our aging population and those who serve older adults, in order to reach those at-risk before they become dependent on opioids.”

The AMAC chief is right. Opioid abuse among the elderly is “a crisis within a crisis.” Awareness is a first step in finding solutions.

Online: https://thetandd.com

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