First, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) got green activists all excited by backing cap-and-trade legislation, even in the face of sharp criticism from fellow conservatives. Then he let them down when he said Tuesday that the House and Senate climate bills “are going nowhere” and a “massive cap-and-trade system that regulates carbon in a fashion that drives up energy costs” is “dead.” Now, he’s got them jazzed up again with yet another clarification:
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) insisted today that he still supports placing a cap on greenhouse gas emissions and would work to win over reluctant Republicans as part of a broader bill that also opens the door to more domestic energy production.
“To jump-start nuclear power, wind and solar and the green economy, you’ve got to price carbon,” Graham told reporters today. “How you do it is subject to discussion and open debate. But the idea of not pricing carbon, in my view, means you’re not serious about energy independence. The odd thing is you’ll never have energy independence until you clean up the air, and you’ll never clean up the air until you price carbon.”
Supporters of climate legislation will have to hope they catch Graham on a good day when the bill actually comes to a vote.