Sheldon Whitehouse to attend Brazil climate summit

CLIMATEWIRE | Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, the top Democrat on the Environment and Public Works Committee, will be at the COP30 climate summit in Brazil starting Friday.

The federal government shutdown and this week's congressional sessions to end it forced many lawmakers to cancel their trips to the U.N. climate talks in the Brazilian city of Belém.

Whitehouse, one of Congress' fiercest climate action hawks, was initially unsure whether he would make it. His office confirmed the trip Thursday evening.

A release said Whitehouse would highlight the Trump administration's work against climate action and would call for a carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) to account for the climate impacts of trade.

"In Belém, I hope to rally our allies to stay steady on climate action, including CBAM, in the face of attacks from the fossil fuel villains running the Trump administration," Whitehouse said in a statement. "There is no pathway to climate safety without CBAM, and we must protect that pathway at all costs."

Carbon tariffs have enjoyed some bipartisan support on Capitol Hill, with some Republicans saying the U.S. would benefit. But some conservatives see it as a pathway to a domestic carbon tax.

Whitehouse will likely be the federal government's sole representative at COP30. The shutdown and congressional sessions this week thwarted a planned bipartisan delegation led by Sens. John Curtis (R-Utah) and Chris Coons (D-Del.).

A group of House members affiliated with the chamber's Sustainable Energy and Environment Coalition (SEEC) were also unable to go. The affiliated nonprofit SEEC Institute will still have a presence and will support Whitehouse.

The Rhode Island Democrat will meet with other elected officials and plans to discuss methane regulations, offshore wind and the oceans, among other issues, his office said. Whitehouse is scheduled to return to the U.S. on Sunday.