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This morning, a coalition of Democratic senators, Republican Lindsey Graham, business leaders, religious leaders and military officials were scheduled to debut their "grand compromise" climate bill. This weekend nevertheless, dueling press releases and political positioning led Lindsey Graham to pull his support for the climate bill. The climate bill has been in Senate negotiations for months, and was set to ask government and companies to take payday cash advances to improve their environmental impact and promote green technology The bill is not entirely dead, and Lindsey Graham may nevertheless return to the list of sponsors.

Lindsey Graham pulls support for climate bill

One of the few republicans that showed a willingness to negotiate with the compromise bill was Lindsey Graham. Lindsey Graham, John Kerry, and Joseph Lieberman were crafting the legislation to address climate change and energy policy within the US. A climate bill is one of the stated Obama administration priorities. Without Lindsey Graham's support, the climate bill is in question, though the White House has said it will still "work to secure bipartisan agreement."

Climate bill concerns immigration reform

Lindsey Graham did not pull support for the climate bill because of any particular provision of that legislation. Instead, Graham calls out the White House and Democratic leaders for their insistence on an immigration reform bill in his statement removing his support for the climate bill. An immigration reform bill has been discussed for a when although the white house and democrats have pushed for forward motion on the issue much sooner. Lindsey Graham has stated that this "bait-and-switch" of issues is similar to instant pay day loans no faxing - taking an issue now at the possible cost of one more later. Graham feels it would almost extremely hard to discuss and pass a climate bill with all the debate on illegal immigration getting in the way.

Lindsey Graham's work on climate and immigration

Lindsey Graham has been under significant pressure from Republican leaders to not work with Democratic senators on crafting a climate bill. Graham has been the only bride within the divided Senate, providing bipartisan support for contentious legislation. Graham has suggested that by putting both climate and immigration into the exact same session, leaders won’t be able to make progress on either issues. In a statement where he removed his support, he explained by saying:
“But I will not allow him to play one issue off of another, and neither will the American people. They expect us to do both, and they willnot accept the notion that trying to act on one is an excuse for not acting on the other.”

So what do you think?

Is it possible for the Senate to address immigration and climate in the exact same session?

Article Resources
New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/25/us/politics/25graham.html?hp
Guardian
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/michaeltomasky/2010/apr/26/congr...