WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Republican Senator Lindsey Graham, who had been collaborating on a compromise climate change and energy bill, on Friday called for putting the legislation on hold following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The legislation Graham had been writing with Democratic Senator John Kerry and independent Senator Joseph Lieberman contained incentives for expanding offshore oil drilling.
But opposition to such oil production has been stiffening in Congress following the massive oil spill that began two weeks ago in the Gulf of Mexico. The spill started when an oil rig exploded and sank, rupturing the underwater oil well lines.
