If you've to support IE7, a more compatible solution is:
/* only the cells with no cell before (aka the first one) */
td {
padding-left: 20px;
}
/* only the cells with at least one cell before (aka all except the first one) */
td + td {
padding-left: 0;
}
Also works fine with li; general sibling selector ~ may be more suitable with mixed elements like a heading h1 followed by paragraphs AND a subheading and then again other paragraphs.