MINOT — Why in the world would Sen. Kevin Cramer, life-long Republican from a coal and oil state, defender of the fossil fuels industries, be joining with a Rhode Island Democrat to push back on a proposed end to the Environmental Protection Agency's Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program?

Because it's not only good policy, it's also good politics.

Whatever else you want to say about Cramer, who can be bombastic, who is frequently amenable to throwing some sharp elbows in the game of politics, he is a skilled politician and a gifted policymaker.

The popular narrative about Republicans and fossil fuels — the one promoted by everyone from the Sierra Club to the entertainment industry — is that they simply don't care about pollution. They are fine with fouled air, and despoiled rivers, as long

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