Graham Still Pushing for Expanded Offshore Drilling

As oil from the April 20 rig explosion continues to approach the Gulf Coast, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is not backing down from his advocacy of expanded offshore oil drilling.

“We’ve had problems with car design, but you don’t stop driving,” Graham said Friday, according to The Greenville (S.C.) News. “The Challenger accident was heart-breaking but we went back to space. The biggest beneficiaries of this proposal to stop drilling would be overseas oil interests, OPEC and regimes that don’t like us very much.”

Graham’s comments come as gulf state politicians from both parties, including Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) and Gov. Charlie Crist (R-Fla.), urge President Obama to shelve his proposal for expanded drilling, at least until the current crisis is resolved and investigated.

Graham, who was one of three senators working on comprehensive climate legislation but dropped his support to protest the prioritization of immigration reform, also explained his shift on the climate bill to the News:

I’ll take political risks, but I’m not stupid. I would never have engaged with energy and climate discussions as seriously as I have believing that on the Friday before the Monday rollout we’d be talking about an immigration bill that Harry Reid was going to bring up. That’s toxic politics.

h/t EnviroKnow