The Hook

A Republican senator who once declared global warming an urgent issue – and willing to fight his party over it – referred last week to Alberta’s carbon-polluting oil industry as “a national treasure for Canada and the United States.”

One prominent climate change blogger is now convinced Lindsey Graham has drunk the “tar sands Kool-Aid.”

The South Carolina representative travelled recently to Alberta’s oil sands with two other U.S. senators. The delegation was escorted by Premier Ed Stelmach. It reportedly did not meet with any individuals or groups critical of the industry.

Afterwards, Graham’s review couldn’t have been more glowing.

“They are reducing their carbon footprint. They are making it cleaner,” he told the Globe and Mail. “I am going to do everything I can to make sure that oil sands production is not impeded because of U.S. policy.”

It’s hard to miss the irony. Just nine months ago, Graham vowed to tackle climate change – a position not exactly common within the Republican Party.

"I have come to conclude that greenhouse gases and carbon pollution is not a good thing," he said at the time. "Whatever political push back I get I'm willing to accept.”

And pushback he got. Some within the conservative blogosphere even called him “wussy-pants” and “girly-man”.

Then this summer, Graham bailed from the most far-reaching climate change legislation in U.S. history – legislation he helped write. Though its future is now uncertain, an American cap and trade strategy would likely have created pressure to reduce imports from Alberta’s oil sands.

That's because extracting and refining a barrel of oil sands fuel creates 82 per cent more emissions than conventional oil, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimated this summer.

Now Graham vows to stop "any draconian environmental policies that would be bad for business."

“[It’s] hard to believe Graham once strongly endorsed climate action,” wrote Climate Progress, a well-read environmental blog.

Geoff Dembicki reports for the Tyee.