Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) said President Obama’s upcoming plan to impose new greenhouse gas regulations could create traction for carbon tax proposals that currently lack political support in Congress.
“There is no chance right now, but that chance can change dramatically if the president takes strong action,” Whitehouse said in an interview that aired Sunday on Platts Energy Week TV.
The liberal Democrat, in the interview taped last week, said Obama’s plan “could be a political game-changer to open the door to a more comprehensive solution.”
Obama will roll out his second-term climate agenda Tuesday, a series of executive actions expected to include regulating emissions from existing power plants, among other provisions.
Whitehouse has championed carbon taxes or fees that, unlike Obama’s planned actions, would require congressional approval. The concept has nowhere close to enough support in either chamber right now (click here and here for more about that).
He called legislation to put a price on carbon the best way to tackle greenhouse gases – and said in the Platts interview that the alternative prospect of new executive regulations will change the political landscape.
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