John Kerry (D) and Lindsey Graham (R) Say "Yes We Can" on Climate Change

I thought bipartisanship in this country was totally dead, but apparently - at least based on this editorial by John Kerry (D-MA) and Lindsey Graham (R-SC) - it's at least on life support.

...we refuse to accept the argument that the United States cannot lead the world in addressing global climate change. We are also convinced that we have found both a framework for climate legislation to pass Congress and the blueprint for a clean-energy future that will revitalize our economy, protect current jobs and create new ones, safeguard our national security and reduce pollution.

Our partnership represents a fresh attempt to find consensus that adheres to our core principles and leads to both a climate change solution and energy independence. It begins now, not months from now — with a road to 60 votes in the Senate.

Kerry and Graham have a few other things to say, including what should be obvious to anyone who isn't named Ken Cuccinelli a complete idiot (or tool of the oil industry) - "climate change is real and threatens our economy and national security." Other than that, Kerry and Graham apparently agree on the following: 1) developing nuclear power (I'm skeptical, mainly because of cost and waste storage issues, but I'm certainly not closed to nuclear power); 2) becoming the "Saudi Arabia of clean coal" (I am REALLY skeptical that coal can ever be made "clean," but it's probably worth the research given the huge coal reserves in China, India, the US, etc.); 3) "seeking compromise on additional onshore and offshore oil and gas exploration" (I'm highly skeptical about opening up environmentally sensitive areas to oil and gas drilling); 4) "consider[ing] a border tax on items produced in countries that avoid [environmental] standards" (sounds like "fair trade" - which I support - to me, but also could trend into dangerous protectionism, which I don't support; the devil's in the details on this one); and 5) "protect[ing] businesses — and ultimately consumers — from increases in energy prices" (I have mixed feelings on this one, because ultimately we need to send the correct price signals - internalizing "externalities," in other words - to the market for people to act appropriately).

Obviously, this is all very complicated stuff, and I certainly don't agree with all of it. However, what I do agree with is the most important thing: Republicans and Democrats alike recognizing the tremendous urgency to deal with climate change (and that the environment should not be a partisan issue), to strengthen our national security (and economy) by "reducing our dependence on foreign oil and increasing our energy efficiency," to create millions of "clean tech" jobs, etc. Overall, I'm very happy to see John Kerry and Lindsey Graham joining together like this. I look forward to rapid progress on groundbreaking energy and climate legislation in coming months, and hope that we'll find a dozen or two more reasonable Republican Senators to work constructively on this rather than just being the "party of no" as they've been of late.