From the Archive: Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on the Rising Prospects for a U.S. Carbon Border Fee

Energy Policy Now

For the month of August, we’re highlighting episodes from the 2023-2024 season of Energy Policy Now. We’ll be back with new content, and a new season, on September the 10th.
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse discusses the prospects for bipartisan U.S. carbon border fee legislation, and the need to protect the Biden administration’s clean energy and climate achievements.

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(This episode was recorded on March 15, 2024, during Penn Energy Week)

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has a reputation as an advocate for strong climate policies in Congress. The Rhode Island Democrat gained national attention over a decade ago when he gave the first of more than 290 “Time to Wake Up” climate speeches to date on the floor of the U.S. Senate. Many of the speeches were delivered at times when the prospects were bleak for significant leadership from Washington on climate and clean energy issues.

Yet the past three years have been very different. Through the passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and, most pointedly, the Inflation Reduction Act, Congress has made concrete steps to grow domestic clean energy and improve the nation’s climate resilience. Recently, Senator Whitehouse reintroduced a bill that would levy the first carbon border fee on goods imported to the U.S., and effectively reward American industry for its leadership in energy efficiency and emissions reductions.

On the podcast, Whitehouse discusses his plan for a carbon border adjustment. He also considers an upcoming election that will prove critical for continued progress, and that could jeopardize the full realization of recently passed energy and climate laws and the fate of the Biden administration’s related regulatory accomplishments.

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