Ben Frumin May 7, 2010, 12:53 PM

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said in a statement today that passing a climate and energy bill this year is “impossible” after the Gulf oil spill and the Democrats’ new push on immigration reform. Sens. John Kerry (D-MA) and Joe Lieberman (I-CT) apparently weren’t listening.

Kerry and Lieberman released a statement today announcing their plan to roll out a climate and energy bill on Wednesday.

In their statement, they seemed to imply that events of the last few weeks had helped the climate bill’s prospects: “We are more encouraged today that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone with a stake in this issue a heightened understanding that as a nation, we can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment.”

Though the senators said “we all understand Lindsey has been busy with the immigration issue and we understand his feelings on that issue,” they suggested that they expected the Republican to come around in the end.

We look forward to rolling-out the legislation next Wednesday and passing the legislation with the support of Senator Graham and other Republicans, Democrats and Independents this year.

Here’s the full statement:

We appreciate Senator Graham’s statement of his continued commitment to passing comprehensive energy independence legislation. Over the past several months we have worked with Senator Graham and he has made a significant contribution to construct balanced legislation that will make our country energy independent, create jobs and curb pollution. Senator Graham has been our partner in building a broad-based coalition of support for legislation that can pass the Senate this year.

Over the last three weeks, we all understand Lindsey has been busy with the immigration issue and we understand his feelings on that issue, but during this period we’ve continued working, moving forward, and talking in great detail with our Senate colleagues on both sides of the aisle, and with the environmental and business communities. We’ve continued to work with the Senate leadership and the White House, and we believe we’ve made new progress on the path to 60 votes.

We are more encouraged today that we can secure the necessary votes to pass this legislation this year in part because the last weeks have given everyone with a stake in this issue a heightened understanding that as a nation, we can no longer wait to solve this problem which threatens our economy, our security and our environment. Our optimism is bolstered because there is a growing and unprecedented bi-partisan coalition from the business, national security, faith and environmental communities that supports our legislation and is energized to work hard and get it passed. We look forward to rolling-out the legislation next Wednesday and passing the legislation with the support of Senator Graham and other Republicans, Democrats and Independents this year.

Climate Change, Joe Lieberman, John Kerry, Lindsey Graham