The Point: It's Lindsey Graham vs. Trump on climate change

View this email in your browser July 11, 2019  | by Lauren Dezenski It's Graham vs. Trump on climate change Sen. Lindsey Graham is sounding an alarm on climate change -- and hoping to make it loud enough for President Donald Trump to hear. "I would encourage the President to look long and hard at the science and find a solution. I'm tired of playing defense on the environment," the South Carolina Republican said in a news conference on Wednesday. Graham said acknowledging -- and embracing -- climate change as an issue in the GOP can be a good thing, and the party is ignoring it at its own peril. "We will win the solution debate, but the only way you're going to win the debate is admit we've got a problem," Graham said. "Let's talk about climate change from the innovative and not the regulatory approach." Trump himself has consistently confused much of the science around climate change. In an interview with Piers Morgan in June, Trump said, "It used to be called global warming, that wasn't working, then it was called climate change and now actually it is called extreme weather." Graham, otherwise a close ally of Trump's, has been critical of the President's climate change efforts (or lack thereof) in the past. In 2017, Graham called on Trump to stay in the Paris climate accord. He warned that if Trump pulled out of the agreement, it would signal to the world that Trump believed climate change is a hoax. Trump did not heed Graham's warnings -- and announced the US would withdraw from the accord, though the country cannot formally leave until 2020. Graham has even joked about Trump's reticence around climate change.   "Climate change is real, the science is sound and the solutions are available," Graham said in April. "If I told Trump that [special counsel Robert] Mueller thinks climate change is a hoax, we'd be well on our way." Earlier this week, Trump held an event at the White House touting his administration's environmental record, citing his pullout from the Paris Agreement, opening up public lands for hunters and cleanup of polluted sites as examples of his green efforts. He also noted a strong economy plays a big role in environmental protections. The Point: Lindsey Graham is doubling down on tackling climate change, but it's not clear Trump will follow suit.  -- Lauren 🎧 Dig deeper into the GOP's climate showdown in today's audio briefing! QUOTE OF THE DAY "I want a level of calmness and no drama on the Mueller presentation." -- Nancy Pelosi on next week's Capitol Hill hearings with Robert Mueller.  JUST SAY NO What happened when aides told Trump 'no' Tucked away in the Mueller report are stories of President Trump's aides ignoring or rejecting his ideas. While their actions ultimately protected the presidency -- their decision to say "no" cost them their jobs. And we hope you decide to subscribe to The Point on YouTube. LAUREN'S GOOD READS Another twist in the citizenship question saga Tessa Berenson takes us inside Kavanaugh's first term on SCOTUS The right's fight against deplatforming  Now that's a race Bivalves, FTW  MUSICAL INTERLUDE HELLO, new Bon Iver!    🎶What's on your summer playlist? Email lauren.dezenski@cnn.com and we could feature it in Friday's newsletter!  🎶 CARVING A PLACE IN HISTORY Every state has two statues in the US Capitol's National Statuary Hall, and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has requested to swap out one of Florida's two honorees. DeSantis is replacing the current statue of Confederate Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith with a new statue of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune, an educator, leader and civil rights activist. Bethune's statue will be the first statue of an African American commissioned by a state in the statuary hall. The 9-foot statue is already under construction in Italy and will be completed and moved into place in 2020. The state's other statue? John Gorrie, an early pioneer of air conditioning (he's staying put).  LAUREN'S CAMPAIGN TRAIL LATEST Pete Buttigieg: Has rolled out a racial justice plan that is aimed at helping to heal racial divides by focusing on reforming health care, education, entrepreneurship, criminal justice and voting rights on a federal level in his ongoing bid for black voters. Joe Biden: Delivered a foreign policy speech where he laid out a plan to undo President Donald Trump's foreign policy moves. Elizabeth Warren: Has rolled out an immigration plan that would decriminalize border crossing and reverse some Trump administration policies. Bernie Sanders: Plans to travel to Canada with people with Type 1 diabetes headed there for cheaper insulin. Kamala Harris: Has proposed investing $1 billion to end the rape kit backlog nationwide. YOUR DAILY GIF From Brenna: "Speaker Pelosi is basically 'Per my last email ...' IRL right here. Literally asking a reporter if she had heard Pelosi's answer to a previous question. Send The Point to the person you sent YOUR last email to!" We'd love to share our other newsletters with you. Follow this link for daily coverage of the world's top stories, savvy market insights, an insider's look into the media, and more. Send your tips and thoughts via email to Chris Cillizza and Lauren Dezenski. Follow Chris and Lauren on Twitter. Subscribe to The Point unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences  Copyright © 2019 Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. A WarnerMedia Company. All Rights Reserved., All rights reserved. You are receiving this message because you subscribed to CNN's The Point with Chris Cillizza newsletter. Our mailing address is: Cable News Network, LP, LLLP. 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