Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., today said the way he and two other senators treat the oil sector in a carbon control bill is still a problem, one that sources said could help push back Monday's expected unveiling of their compromise measure.

Graham and Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., are working on a sector-by-sector plan to lower U.S. greenhouse gas emissions. Graham said the section dealing with electric utilities "is in pretty good shape" and they "think we're going to be OK" with manufacturers and other energy-intensive industries. But the "transportation sector is a problem," he said.

Graham's initial idea to levy a "linked fee" on oil and gas companies tied to the carbon market price other industries would pay under a cap-and-trade program is dead, he said.

"The linked fee has got to be a gas tax in some weird way, and no, we're going to do that," he said. "We're not going to raise gas taxes, and John Kerry says, rightfully so, the linked fee proposal had its day and it's just not selling."

The three senators are looking at other ways to address greenhouse gases from the transportation sector, which he declined to detail. He recently suggested that higher fuel efficiency standards and more hybrid vehicles on the road would lower emissions.

Graham had promoted the linked fee approach, which was initially suggested by ConocoPhillips, BP America and Exxon Mobil. But Graham said transportation users also need to be on board with how they treat that sector.

"It's one thing for the oil and gas companies to be OK, but what if you're actually driving a truck and that's the way you make a living?" Graham asked.

Also complicating matters is that critics have been labeling the fee as a gas tax, which could be an impossible public relations obstacle.

Graham is seeking a little more time to work on the bill beyond Monday's expected rollout, sources said. "We'll see," Graham said today about whether a bill would be unveiled Monday.

But Lieberman indicated this week that Monday's roll out date was solid, especially given VIPs who will be coming into town to attend the unveiling.

"I'm going to be there to make my own announcement if we're not ready," Lieberman joked Wednesday. "We're making plans, people are coming, you know. It's the whole deal."

Timing aside, he said, he is hoping to convince businesses to be on board with it by the time they make an announcement, including the Edison Electric Institute, the main trade association for electric utilities.

If the trio does not get the group's backing by Monday, he added, "we're not going to do it" then.

EEI, like other businesses, needs to sell the bill to skeptical senators, he said. "EEI has to come forward and tell my fellow senators... this is better for us than doing nothing."

"If we don't get enough business on board selling this thing, why would a senator jump into a controversial debate this close to the election?" he added. "It would have to be such good business and good energy policy that it makes sense. And I think both parties will benefit if we can pull this off."

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