Graham Restates Commitment to Climate Legislation
Senator Lindsey Graham. (image: media.counton2.com)
Bucking criticism from fellow Republicans and drawing praise from Democrats and environmentalists, Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) reiterated his call on Tuesday for the federal regulation of greenhouse gasses, The State reported.
Speaking at a climate-change conference in Columbia, SC, the senator described a cap-and-trade bill that would reduce US carbon emissions by 17 percent by 2020, while including allowances for offshore oil drilling and nuclear power. “Whatever political push back I get I’m willing to accept because I know what I’m trying to do makes sense to me,” Graham said. “I am convinced that reason, logic and good business sense, and good environmental policy, will trump the status quo.”
In December, Graham began drafting the bill with Senators John Kerry (D-Mass) and Joe Lieberman (I-Conn). Advertised as a bipartisan (or even tri-partisan) compromise on climate-change legislation, the proposal is clearly meant to appeal to both sides of the aisle. For liberal and moderate Democrats, the bill outlines a cap-and-trade system that would curb carbon emissions by requiring companies that wish to exceed emission limits to buy credits from those producing smaller amounts of greenhouse gasses. For Republicans and conservative Democrats, who tend to criticize cap-and-trade’s cost to energy industries (especially coal producers and petroleum refiners), the bill includes extra allowances and funding for offshore drilling and nuclear power.
Of course despite Kerry, Lieberman, and Graham’s best efforts, not everyone is pleased by the proposal. Environmental groups, like the ocean-preservation organization Oceana, have suggested that an increase in offshore drilling could create a higher risk of spills, although other environmental groups have been less critical, admitting that an agreement that included a key Republican is a step forward. Likewise, certain Democrats have rejected the party’s agenda, urging President Obama to save climate-change legislation for next year, after the 2010 elections. For example, Senator Mary Landrieu (D-LA) said that she has strenuously asked the White House to place cap and trade on the back burner.
Given the general resistance to climate-change legislation, Senator Graham, one of only a few Republicans who have shown any interest in curbing global warming, has demonstrated himself to be an indomitable spokesman for the cause. Even after the Lexington County Republican Party voted to censure him for his views on climate change, Graham appeared at the Columbia conference to have lost little hope that a bill will eventually be passed. Suggesting that the proposed legislation is tied to the very future of America, Graham argued that his bill would boost the flagging US economy while reducing the nation’s dependence on foreign oil. Yet, while his remarks were met by a standing ovation from his audience, Senator Graham’s message is still lost on many members of Congress, who will ultimately determine the fate of climate-change legislation, and with it, perhaps, the fate of the nation.
