Don't Worry Charleston, We're Sure It's Not On Purpose

On the Heels of Boeing, News That the Port of Chucktown Won't Have Needed Expansion 'Til 2024 !!


   If people in Charleston are begging to feel like the Federal Government has put a gigantic bullseye on their backs, we don't blame them.  First, it was the NLRB almost inexplicably trying to scuttle Boeing's 787 Dreamliner plant.  Then this week, new comes that the Port of Charleston is about to become outdated, and another arm of DC is dragging it out again...


   Here is the problem: The Panama Canal was recently deepened to allow larger ships to pass through, so to accomodate that, ALL seaports on the East Coast need to become deepwater ports as well, or else they cannot service this cargo.  The Port of Charleston is on board to do this, but the Army Corps of Engineers needs to do an feasibility evaluation, which they said could take up to 8 years to complete.  Dredging would then take 2 more years.  Yes, it takes 1/4 the time to DO the work than to EVALUATE it.  Such is life in Washington....


   Now, you may be criticizing the bigwigs at the Port of Charleston for being behind the times and lacking vision, but they do have a legitimate answer for it: they already HAD a study done just a few years ago, when the last round of improvements were done by the Corps...  Seems reasonable to us. Really, how much changes in a couple years?


   If it sounds like nothing, think again.  If The Port becomes outdated, then all these cargo ships go to Savannah, Jacksonville, Wilmington and others all along the East Coast - and that is deadly to the entire state.  Roughly 1/5 of all jobs in the Palmetto State are tied to the Port directly or indirectly.  Shutting down the port would be tantamount to the naval blockade of Chucktown during the Civil War...


     Lately, we can't blame some people around town who may feel like they are being targeted by the Obama Administration unfairly.  Is it true? Eh, probably not.. Even Jim Clyburn - Obama's eyes and ears in the House - knows that the Port of Charleston is imperative to South Carolina's success.  Still,  it wouldn't surprise us if DC has a fatwa out on SC, with a code of silence on it.  Politics is a funny game, and Chucktown may be paying the price for being so anti-Obama.... We'll see if it's still a problem next year.


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