by Keely Brewster

It was disappointing that Lindsey Graham changed his mind, values, and opinions surrounding climate legislation. Lindsey Graham was right when he discussed the need to decrease our dependence on foreign oil for reasons of national security, economic security, and job loss. Lindsey Graham was right when he suggested the current Senate should not take a “kick the can down the road approach” and wait for the next Senate to deal with climate change.  Lindsey Graham was a true leader on the Republican side advocating a slam-dunk in climate legislation without partisan politics. Both Graham and Kerry joined together to discuss the process of making a clean energy bill as an “honest give-and-take and genuine bipartisanship” that was needed in order to succeed.

But now Graham has changed his mind and is no longer advocating for effective climate legislation. Instead, he’s supporting measures that he himself called “half assed.”  Sen. Graham has allowed partisan politics to compromise his principles.    America stands at a historic moment where we have a real chance to finally pass comprehensive climate legislation and move our country in the direction of energy independence for our own sake, and that of our children.  Rather than seizing this moment, Sen. Graham is making self-fulfilling prophesies, saying Washington is too partisan to get this done.  Washington is only as partisan as Sens. such as Graham make it.  As an elected representative, Graham should be considering his electorate and staying true to his own beliefs, not just performing as a puppet for the Republican Party. The American Values Network has created a video that hopefully remind Lindsey Graham of this responsibility.