In my column this past Sunday, I noted that the strong opposition to harbor deepening by some key South Carolinians suggested that supporters had not done enough to reach out to Georgia’s neighbors.
Well, today there have been two interesting developments. According to the Savannah Morning News, a key economic development group in S.C. has come out in favor of deepening and Bloomberg is reporting that Georgia port officials have publicly come out in support of deepening the harbor in Charleston: Georgia ports pledge support for deeper SC harbor.
The politics of all this are getting clearer. With ports up and down the East Coast clamoring for federal dollars, a catfight between Ga. and S.C. would likely result in neither port’s deepening being funded. As I suggested in my column, there’s little reason for the Obama administration to support efforts in Ga. and S.C. before supporting similar efforts in Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, New York, and New Jersey.
If S.C. and Ga. had reached across the border earlier, they’d probably be in a much stronger position right now in terms of federal funds.