Tom Clements (politician)
Encyclopedia
Tom Clements is a South Carolina
environmental activist and politician. Clements was the Green Party
's nominee in the 2010 United States Senate election
in South Carolina
. Clements received more than 9% of the general election. He is the Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for the US branch of Friends of the Earth
in Columbia, South Carolina
. Clements worked as the campaign manager for Democratic Congressman Doug Barnard, Jr.
in the 1980s and as well as a long environmental activist with Greenpeace
and the Nuclear Control Institute
.
and as an inspector in the Office of Surface Mining
for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Clements worked the executive director of the Nuclear Control Institute
, a research and advocacy center for preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. He joined NCI in February 1999 and is responsible for the organization's day to day operations. Prior to joining NCI, Clements was a senior nuclear campaigner with Greenpeace
. He is considered a nuclear
and plutonium
expert by the New York Times. He is also the Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for the US branch of Friends of the Earth
in Columbia, South Carolina
. Friends of the Earth is the considered the public interest watchdog over the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site nuclear complex.
Clements, who had no previous experience with the Green Party, was approached by party leadership in January 2010 and asked to run for the US Senate later that year. He won the Green Party's nomination for Senate in May and by June had raised 15,000 dollars towards his Senate campaign. Though not included in the Rasmussen poll data released in that same month, he claimed that the 9% of those polled supporting "other" was for his campaign. He ran against incumbent Republican Jim DeMint
and military veteran and Democrat Alvin Greene
as well as several write-in candidates.
Clements raised more than $45,000 by mid-October,. Incumbent Jim DeMint reported more than $3 million raised to date. Democrat Alvin Greene reported no fundraising activities. Clements campaigned around the state from June through November 1, appearing at NAACP forums, stump meetings, editorial conferences and other public events. The campaign financed TV and radio advertisements to run in the Columbia, Charleston and Pee Dee regions during the two weeks prior to the election.
A Winthrop University poll conducted between October 5 and 10 with 741 likely South Carolina voters found Clements running second with 12.2% of the vote against 11.2% for Democrat Alvin Greene and 58.3% for incumbent Jim DeMint.
gave Clements their endorsement. On September 9, The Nation
's John Nichols
suggested that Democrats embrace Clements as the most progressive choice and best option in the South Carolina Senate election over Greene and DeMint.
Clements for Senate was formally endorsed by the national Sierra Club
, Friends of the Earth Action, and by the South Carolina Latino Political Action Committee.
In a first for a minor party candidate in South Carolina, Clements was endorsed for Senate by a daily paper, the Rock Hill Herald.
. He is an eighth generation Georgian. He served in the Peace Corps
in Costa Rica
and is fluent in Spanish. Clements has a MA degree in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia
and a BA from Emory University
.
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
environmental activist and politician. Clements was the Green Party
Green Party (United States)
The Green Party of the United States is a nationally recognized political party which officially formed in 1991. It is a voluntary association of state green parties. Prior to national formation, many state affiliates had already formed and were recognized by other state parties...
's nominee in the 2010 United States Senate election
United States Senate election in South Carolina, 2010
The 2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 2, 2010 along with other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator...
in South Carolina
South Carolina
South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...
. Clements received more than 9% of the general election. He is the Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for the US branch of Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
. Clements worked as the campaign manager for Democratic Congressman Doug Barnard, Jr.
Doug Barnard, Jr.
Druie Douglas Barnard, Jr. is a former United States congressman from Georgia.Barnard attended the Richmond County public schools and graduated from the Academy of Richmond County in 1939. He attended Augusta College from 1939 to 1940, then graduated in 1943 with an A.B. from Mercer University in...
in the 1980s and as well as a long environmental activist with Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
and the Nuclear Control Institute
Nuclear Control Institute
The Nuclear Control Institute is a research and advocacy center for preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The non-profit organization was founded by Paul Leventhal in 1981. It went under a reorganization in 2003 to make it a web-based program...
.
Activism
Clements worked as a policy analyst in the United States Forest ServiceUnited States Forest Service
The United States Forest Service is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture that administers the nation's 155 national forests and 20 national grasslands, which encompass...
and as an inspector in the Office of Surface Mining
Office of Surface Mining
The Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement is a branch of the United States Department of the Interior...
for the U.S. Department of the Interior. Clements worked the executive director of the Nuclear Control Institute
Nuclear Control Institute
The Nuclear Control Institute is a research and advocacy center for preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. The non-profit organization was founded by Paul Leventhal in 1981. It went under a reorganization in 2003 to make it a web-based program...
, a research and advocacy center for preventing nuclear proliferation and nuclear terrorism. He joined NCI in February 1999 and is responsible for the organization's day to day operations. Prior to joining NCI, Clements was a senior nuclear campaigner with Greenpeace
Greenpeace
Greenpeace is a non-governmental environmental organization with offices in over forty countries and with an international coordinating body in Amsterdam, The Netherlands...
. He is considered a nuclear
Nuclear power
Nuclear power is the use of sustained nuclear fission to generate heat and electricity. Nuclear power plants provide about 6% of the world's energy and 13–14% of the world's electricity, with the U.S., France, and Japan together accounting for about 50% of nuclear generated electricity...
and plutonium
Plutonium
Plutonium is a transuranic radioactive chemical element with the chemical symbol Pu and atomic number 94. It is an actinide metal of silvery-gray appearance that tarnishes when exposed to air, forming a dull coating when oxidized. The element normally exhibits six allotropes and four oxidation...
expert by the New York Times. He is also the Southeastern Nuclear Campaign Coordinator for the US branch of Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth
Friends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
in Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina
Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...
. Friends of the Earth is the considered the public interest watchdog over the Department of Energy’s Savannah River Site nuclear complex.
2010 Senatorial campaign
Clements, who had no previous experience with the Green Party, was approached by party leadership in January 2010 and asked to run for the US Senate later that year. He won the Green Party's nomination for Senate in May and by June had raised 15,000 dollars towards his Senate campaign. Though not included in the Rasmussen poll data released in that same month, he claimed that the 9% of those polled supporting "other" was for his campaign. He ran against incumbent Republican Jim DeMint
Jim DeMint
James Warren "Jim" DeMint is the junior U.S. Senator from South Carolina, serving since 2005. He is a member of the Republican Party and a leader in the Tea Party movement. He previously served as the U.S. Representative for from 1999 to 2005.-Early life and education:DeMint was born in...
and military veteran and Democrat Alvin Greene
Alvin Greene
Alvin Michael Greene is a Democrat from South Carolina. He was the Democratic Party's nominee in the 2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina. He was defeated by incumbent Republican Sen. Jim DeMint by a margin of 61.46% to 27.65%, with the remaining votes going to third-party and...
as well as several write-in candidates.
Clements raised more than $45,000 by mid-October,. Incumbent Jim DeMint reported more than $3 million raised to date. Democrat Alvin Greene reported no fundraising activities. Clements campaigned around the state from June through November 1, appearing at NAACP forums, stump meetings, editorial conferences and other public events. The campaign financed TV and radio advertisements to run in the Columbia, Charleston and Pee Dee regions during the two weeks prior to the election.
A Winthrop University poll conducted between October 5 and 10 with 741 likely South Carolina voters found Clements running second with 12.2% of the vote against 11.2% for Democrat Alvin Greene and 58.3% for incumbent Jim DeMint.
Political positions
Clements opposes the continuing practice of dumping nuclear waste in South Carolina. He opposes offshore drilling with his website calling it "a potentially disastrous gamble that could destroy South Carolina’s coastline, along with her fishing and tourism industries". Clements supports the new START Treaty with Russia. His campaign also focused on conservation and job creation.Senate candidacy endorsements
On July 6, 2010, the Greater Columbia Central Labor Council of the SC AFL-CIOAFL-CIO
The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations, commonly AFL–CIO, is a national trade union center, the largest federation of unions in the United States, made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 11 million workers...
gave Clements their endorsement. On September 9, The Nation
The Nation
The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...
's John Nichols
John Nichols (journalist)
John Nichols is an American journalist and author. He is a political correspondent for The Nation and associate editor of The Capital Times. Books authored or co-authored by Nichols include: The Genius of Impeachment and The Death and Life of American Journalism.- Biography :Nichols holds a...
suggested that Democrats embrace Clements as the most progressive choice and best option in the South Carolina Senate election over Greene and DeMint.
Clements for Senate was formally endorsed by the national Sierra Club
Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is the oldest, largest, and most influential grassroots environmental organization in the United States. It was founded on May 28, 1892, in San Francisco, California, by the conservationist and preservationist John Muir, who became its first president...
, Friends of the Earth Action, and by the South Carolina Latino Political Action Committee.
In a first for a minor party candidate in South Carolina, Clements was endorsed for Senate by a daily paper, the Rock Hill Herald.
Campaign result
Clements received 121,472 in the final tally, 9.22% of the total 1,318,794 votes cast. This is the best result for a candidate who was not a Democrat or Republican since Strom Thurmond won as a write-in candidate in 1954. Clements' result also exceeds the previous best result for a progressive statewide candidate; Ralph Nader received 20,297 votes for President from SC in 2000.Personal and education
Clements was born in 1951 in Savannah, GeorgiaSavannah, Georgia
Savannah is the largest city and the county seat of Chatham County, in the U.S. state of Georgia. Established in 1733, the city of Savannah was the colonial capital of the Province of Georgia and later the first state capital of Georgia. Today Savannah is an industrial center and an important...
. He is an eighth generation Georgian. He served in the Peace Corps
Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a government agency of the same name. The mission of the Peace Corps includes three goals: providing technical assistance, helping people outside the United States to understand US culture, and helping...
in Costa Rica
Costa Rica
Costa Rica , officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a multilingual, multiethnic and multicultural country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the southeast, the Pacific Ocean to the west and the Caribbean Sea to the east....
and is fluent in Spanish. Clements has a MA degree in Forest Resources from the University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
and a BA from Emory University
Emory University
Emory University is a private research university in metropolitan Atlanta, located in the Druid Hills section of unincorporated DeKalb County, Georgia, United States. The university was founded as Emory College in 1836 in Oxford, Georgia by a small group of Methodists and was named in honor of...
.
See also
- Anti-nuclear movement in the United StatesAnti-nuclear movement in the United StatesThe anti-nuclear movement in the United States consists of more than 80 anti-nuclear groups which have acted to oppose nuclear power or nuclear weapons, or both, in the United States. These groups include the Abalone Alliance, Clamshell Alliance, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research,...
- Friends of the EarthFriends of the EarthFriends of the Earth International is an international network of environmental organizations in 76 countries.FOEI is assisted by a small secretariat which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns...
- United States Senate election in South Carolina, 2010United States Senate election in South Carolina, 2010The 2010 United States Senate election in South Carolina was held on November 2, 2010 along with other elections to the United States Senate in other states, as well as elections to the United States House of Representatives and various state and local elections. Incumbent Republican U.S. Senator...
External links
- Clements For Senate
- And in the Third Corner… Columbia City PaperColumbia City PaperColumbia City Paper is a free alternative newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina featuring investigative articles, political commentary, humor, music, arts and entertainment coverage. Founded in August 2005 by Paul F. Blake the paper is based in Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia City Paper is...
, October 6, 2010