Being a skeptic is not entirely a bad thing.

If fact, we at USDemocrazy think it is healthy to question common wisdom (which is in short supply in our office).

In our country today there is no shortage of skeptics.

Leading the doubters are those who are skeptical of the near overwhelming evidence of climate change. In Washington these skeptics are almost all Republicans.

Which is why it was so surprising to hear a leading Republican chastise his colleagues about their collective approach to the environment.

Republican Senator, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina asked last week, “Are we the party of carbon pollution forever in unlimited amounts?”

This surprising question was posed in an interview with New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman (of The World Is Flat fame).

Graham’s completely unexpected opinions in the article continued.  He warns the GOP that it will become pitifully irrelevant if it continues to embrace climate change disinformers:

I have been to enough college campuses to know if you are 30 or younger this climate issue is not a debate. It’s a value. These young people grew up with recycling and a sensitivity to the environment — and the world will be better off for it.

The Senator knows a political opportunity when he sees one. Many of these “under 30s’ are going to be voters in upcoming elections. He continues

They are not brainwashed. … From a Republican point of view, we should buy into it and embrace it and not belittle them. You can have a genuine debate about the science of climate change, but when you say that those who believe it are buying a hoax and are wacky people you are putting at risk your party’s future with younger people.”

It is certainly exciting that a powerful Republican is starting to approach climate change as a serious issue.

Graham seems to be acknowledging the fact that Americans want clean energy reform. Things are looking up for planet Earth, or are they?