By Sammy Fretwell

Despite his overall support for President Donald Trump, S.C. Gov. Henry McMaster has spent much of his tenure taking stances on the environment that are either at odds with the Republican president or not on Trump’s radar.

Since he became governor nine years ago, McMaster has pushed a major initiative to save land from unchecked growth and development, at the same time Trump has sought to reduce protected areas.

McMaster has opposed drilling for oil off the South Carolina coast in the face of efforts by Trump to crank up drilling in the South Atlantic.

McMaster has supported development of clean-burning electric vehicles at a new manufacturing plant in South Carolina, even as Trump has worked against the electric vehicle industry. And the governor has acknowledged the threat of climate change, forming a floodwater commission and developing a resilience plan as Trump has sought to undo federal climate regulations while fighting against wind and solar initiatives. 

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Lynn Teague, a vice president with League of Women Voters of South Carolina, said the governor has done well on many issues, but he and other leaders need to take strong positions on controlling the growth of data centers.

“We have seen now for several years attempts to get some meaningful regulation of these data centers, which plays into the utility issues, and it hasn’t happened,’’ she said. “We’d like to have seen more leadership from the governor and other leaders.’’

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