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WASHINGTON When it comes to combating global warming, Sen. Lindsey Graham is right where he loves to be - ahead of the curve, in the mix on a major issue, at the table for high-level, bipartisan talks behind closed doors.
Graham, an S.C. Republican, is working with Democratic Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts and independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to craft a climate change bill.
They face the dual challenge of overcoming widespread GOP opposition and withstanding relentless attacks by Big Oil and allied energy interests.
"Our goal is to create a vision that not only will help this planet - which I think is in peril - but will create millions of new jobs for Americans who need them, and help us become energy independent to make us safer," Graham told a crowded Capitol Hill news conference Wednesday.
Kerry, Lieberman and Graham met privately with Energy Secretary Steven Chu, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and former EPA chief Carol Browner, now President Barack Obama's top adviser on climate change.
Graham has tried to woo other Republicans with warnings that the Environmental Protection Agency will impose draconian regulations if Congress fails to act.
And he's stressed the national security threat of continuing to import oil from hostile Middle East countries.
"Part of this initiative is to create a vision for energy independence and marry it up with responsible climate control," he said.
Graham had GOP partners in his previous bipartisan initiatives on immigration, judges and other issues.
Now, in accepting cap-and-trade limits on carbon emissions, Graham stands alone - though he says "a handful" of Republican senators back him but aren't ready to make public commitments.
In a move that stunned some of his GOP Senate colleagues - and angered many of his constituents back home - Graham joined Kerry last month in publishing a New York Times op-ed column on global warming.
The two senators sketched out a rough deal: Republicans would accept a cap-and-trade system of lowering carbon emissions in exchange for Democrats signing off on more nuclear power and expanded offshore drilling for oil and natural gas.
For partnering with Kerry, Graham endured shouts of "Traitor!" at a recent town hall meeting in Greenville.
A Washington group with oil industry ties ran TV and radio ads against Graham in South Carolina, compelling the senator to marshal a show of support from business, military and business leaders in the state.
In a broader divide among Republicans over the party's direction, Graham urges "center-right" compromise and pragmatic solutions to the country's pressing problems over conservative ideological purity.
When one activist tried to shout him down in May at the S.C. Republican Convention, Graham retorted: "I'm a winner, pal. Winning matters to me. If it doesn't matter to you, there's the exit sign."
The cap-and-trade law sought by Kerry and Graham would be similar to a landmark 1990 measure - supported and signed by Republican President George H.W. Bush - that reduced acid rain by cutting emissions of sulfur and nitrogen dioxides.
Now, firms would choose between installing anti-pollution equipment on factories and power plants vs. buying emissions credits from companies that cut carbon output.
For his part, Graham believes that Republicans must stop denying that global warming is a dire problem - and stop blocking the growth of alternative forms of energy that he says could become a powerful economic engine.
"We need to lead the world rather than follow the world on carbon pollution," he said.
Comfortably elected a year ago to his second term, Graham has turned working with Democrats on high-profile causes into a cottage industry.
So far on climate change, Republican senators aren't joining Democrats in common cause.
