Sen. Graham Censured in State Over Cap-and-Trade; Reaffirms Support

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., has been censured by the Lexington County (S.C.) Republican party for supporting federal cap-and-trade legislation, The State newspaper reported today. Graham quickly mounted a political stage in Columbia and said he would continue to back a federal crackdown on CO2 pollution, "which he said will also boost the U.S. economy and reduce the nation's dependence on foreign oil," the newspaper wrote. Graham was quoted as saying: "I have come to conclude that greenhouse gases and carbon pollution is not a good thing. All the cars and trucks and plants that have been in existence since the Industrial Revolution, spewing out carbon day-in and day-out, will never convince me that's a good thing for your children and the future of the planet."

Graham noted that he was working with Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman, ID-Conn., on a compromise that may be more palatable to critics. Said Graham: "Whatever political push back I get I'm willing to accept because I know what I'm trying to do makes sense to me. I am convinced that reason, logic and good business sense, and good environmental policy, will trump the status quo."