Sen. Graham at center of new climate-bill battle

WASHINGTON -- When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be -- ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors.

Graham, a South Carolina Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill.

They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests.

"Our goal is to create a vision that not only will help this planet -- which I think is in peril -- but will create millions of new jobs for Americans who need them, and help us become energy independent to make us safer," Graham told a crowded Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday.

Graham has tried to woo other Republicans with warnings that the Environmental Protection Agency will impose draconian regulations if Congress fails to act.

And he's stressed the national security threat of continuing to import oil from hostile Middle East countries.

"I think most Americans -- Republicans, independents or Democrats -- really feel uncomfortable with the fact that our nation sends a billion dollars a day overseas to buy foreign oil from some countries who don't like us very much," Graham said.

"Part of this initiative is to create a vision for energy independence and marry it up with responsible climate control," he said.

Graham had GOP partners in his previous bipartisan initiatives on immigration, judges and other issues.

Now, in accepting cap-and-trade limits on carbon emissions, Graham stands alone -- though he says "a handful" of Republican senators back him but aren't ready to make public commitments.

In a move that stunned some of his GOP Senate colleagues -- and angered many of his constituents back home -- Graham joined Kerry last month in writing an op-ed column on global warming that was published in The New York Times.

The two senators sketched out a rough deal: Republicans would accept a cap-and-trade system of lowering carbon emissions in exchange for Democrats signing off on more nuclear power and expanded offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.

"We speak with one voice in saying that the best way to make America stronger is to work together to address an urgent crisis facing the world," they wrote.

For partnering with Kerry, a liberal who ran against President George W. Bush in 2004, Graham endured shouts of "Traitor!" and other verbal abuse at a recent town hall meeting in Greenville, S.C.

A Washington group with oil industry ties ran TV and radio ads against Graham in South Carolina, compelling the senator to marshal a show of support from business, military and business leaders in the state.

"Lindsey has been visionary and courageous," Kerry told McClatchy. "He's playing a very important role and showing real leadership."

The cap-and-trade law sought by Kerry and Graham would be similar to a landmark 1990 measure -- supported and signed by Republican President George H.W. Bush -- that reduced acid rain by cutting emissions of sulfur and nitrogen dioxides.

Now, firms would choose between installing anti-pollution equipment on factories and power plants or buying emissions credits from companies that cut carbon output.

Kerry bristles at GOP claims that such a carbon-control system would produce a hidden tax increase, with utilities, energy companies and other manufacturers passing on their increased costs to customers.

"There is no tax," Kerry said. "It is a private investment incentive where a company is given the right to buy from a company that's reduced its pollution -- to buy the right to pollute for a period of time. That's a private exchange. That's called capitalism. That's the private marketplace working at its best."

For his part, Graham believes that Republicans must stop denying that global warming is a dire problem -- and stop blocking the growth of alternative forms of energy that he says could become a powerful economic engine.

"We need to lead the world rather than follow the world on carbon pollution," he said. "Our country doesn't have the infrastructure in place to build a green economy, and never will until we price carbon. And our country doesn't have a vision for energy independence. We need one."