Cassidy and Whitehouse in 2020. Photo: Caroline Brehman/CQ-Roll Call via Getty Images
Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse and Bill Cassidy are looking to draw up a bipartisan carbon border adjustment proposal.
Why it matters: There's been a lot of happy talk among members of both parties about tariffs on carbon-intensive imports. But to date, they've had separate proposals to enact one.
What they're saying: Whitehouse said the pair have their eyes on must-pass vehicles this Congress, like the NDAA and approps bills, to possibly get a CBAM bill done.
- "We will continue to look for those opportunities. I would also like to land a bipartisan bill, a border pollution measure, fairly quickly," he said during an event on the Hill on Wednesday hosted by Silverado Policy Accelerator.
Zoom in: The biggest difference is whether or not to include some kind of domestic price on carbon.
- Whitehouse's bill would pair a border levy with a domestic carbon fee on the heaviest climate polluters.
- Cassidy's Foreign Pollution Fee would apply only to certain foreign products, and virtually no Republicans support a domestic tax.
The intrigue: Cassidy said that depending on how his version of the policy is structured, it could raise from $120 billion to $240 billion over 10 years.
- That would make it a pretty appealing payfor in the GOP reconciliation push.
- Cassidy said that's his "dream of dreams."
Yes, but: None of this is likely to happen in the near term without an explicit blessing from Trump and his tariff-happy administration.
- As Whitehouse acknowledged, that's key to generating support from the House GOP.
