Carbon border fee legislation is unlikely to emerge from the US Congress until it gets Republican "champions" to support it, according to a top Senate Democrat.
While there is a "pretty solid foundation of work" that has been done on such a carbon boarder adjustment mechanism (CBAM) for the US, the loss of two Republican supporters will make it hard to get through Congress, even as Democrats are poised to hold sizeable majorities in both the Senate and US House of Representatives next year, US senator Sheldon Whitehose (D-Rhode Island) said on Friday.
"We'd need Republican champions to step up", Whitehouse told reporters at the UN Cop 31 climate summit in Antalya, Turkey.
The idea of a CBAM, which would impose a fee on imports that do not meet greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions benchmarks, had attracted some Republican support in recent years as a way to address trade imbalances with China. US senators Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) and Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) crafting legislation to set the foundation for a potential border fee. Whitehouse has also worked on legislation.
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed the bill in 2024, but it never came to a vote by the full chamber.
Cassidy sought reelection this year but lost his party's primary in May, while Graham passed away in July.
"It's certainly not impossible for others to emerge", Whitehouse said, adding President Donald Trump's favor toward using tariffs could provide an opening.
Whitehouse often refers to the CBAM as the "last lifeboat" available for countries to reduce GHG emissions enough to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
"We're now at a point where if we're not putting a price on carbon pollution, it's game over", he said.
Whitehouse also said he hopes that governments that have already put a CBAM in place such as the EU and UK, or are considering it, to grant a waiver to the state of California in recognition of its large economy and climate policies.
"The disruptive effect within our country of the good player, California, being given this benefit would be extremely powerful in moving other states along", he said at a separate event at the Cop.
