Green candidate challenges DeMint

The green tea party candidate is on the ballot and is looking to dunk the "entrenched" incumbent he said is too tied up in Washington and big government.

Longtime environmental and nuclear non-proliferation activist Tom Clements is running as the Green Party candidate for Jim DeMint's Senate seat, and his early attacks are going to be critical, Clements said.

Clements is going on the offensive, claiming that DeMint has abandoned his constituents in South Carolina and is trying to get others elected.

"Jim DeMint is AWOL from South Carolina," Clements said. "He is off supporting candidates in Nevada, Colorado, Utah and Kentucky and is not focused on the needs of the people of South Carolina."

While DeMint seems to have become the Tea Party movement's darling, Clements sees his opponent as "a fat cat" supporting bailouts and making great amounts of money from the Washington system, supported by a political action committee that spends freely - $2.6 million this year, Clements said.

The incumbent supports nuclear power and what Clements calls government bailouts for the industry to build new reactors. Clements describes the Department of Energy's Federal Loan Guarantee program as a preemptive bailout of the nuclear industry.

The guarantees should make lower-interest loans easier to obtain for developers of clean-energy projects, he said.

In February, DOE said it would guarantee $8.3 billion in loans to help finance construction of two new reactors at Georgia Power's Plant Vogtle.

Despite not having political experience in an elected office, Clements believes his lobbying and advocacy work for Friends of the Earth give him good standing to hold office.

As a candidate who was on the ballot before the controversy between the Democratic party and nominee Alvin Greene, Clements said he is in a good place to pick up voters from both traditional parties, though he is in favor of a multiparty system.

He added that he has reached out to Greene, and they have wished each other well in the campaign. He also added to Greene's recent calls for DeMint to come to South Carolina for a debate.

Exposure via a debate or in other ways may be a positive for Clements, who faces a great struggle to unseat DeMint. Clements said he does not see his victory as "outside the realms of possibility" in the climate of anti-incumbency.

As someone with an environmentalist background, Clements' platform is entrenched in green issues. Job creation can be achieved better through investment in renewable energy and sustainable jobs, he said.

"We must pursue the cheapest, most efficient way first," Clements said, promoting energy efficiency and renewables as the way forward.

"South Carolina is bypassing opportunities for much more aggressive programs for energy efficiency," he said.

Contact Mike Gellatly at mgellatly@aikenstandard.com.