Amid Budget Fights, One Conservative Clean Energy Idea Gains Ground

With the reconciliation debate in full swing and the fate of clean energy subsidies hanging in the balance, many environmentally minded conservatives like myself are paying careful attention to the US Senate. However, as the “One Big, Beautiful Bill” continues to absorb much of America’s attention, one very positive development has gone overlooked in the media, and it promises to be a win for South Carolina’s energy and manufacturing sectors.

I’m talking about the Foreign Pollution Fee Act (FPFA), a bill introduced in April by Senator Bill Cassidy and sponsored by our own Senator Lindsey Graham. The bill would impose tariffs according to the pollution level required to manufacture foreign goods, ensuring that our manufacturers are not undercut by competitors who cut corners on environmental standards.

There’s a reason Senator Graham sponsored this legislation both this Congress and last—the Foreign Pollution Fee Act has the potential to significantly benefit South Carolina and raise revenue to offset tax breaks.

Right now, South Carolina is at a global disadvantage. While our state’s growing manufacturing sector plays by the rules, foreign competitors—especially China—undercut our producers by ignoring environmental standards and flooding our markets with artificially cheap goods.

Not only does this make it difficult for South Carolina businesses to compete, but pollution from other nations also negatively impacts our air and water while contributing to climate change. Our current trade laws effectively subsidize dirty foreign countries by refusing to hold foreign imports with zero environmental standards to the same bar that we expect of South Carolina manufacturers.

Senator Graham’s FPFA would protect South Carolina workers by ensuring foreign manufacturers pay the same environmental compliance costs South Carolina businesses are required to pay. This has the potential to not only reward South Carolina’s efforts in environmental stewardship and energy independence but also protect our manufacturers and workers from the unfair environmental practices of other nations.

The impact of this bill may be more evident than in the advanced energy sector. In addition to our over 270,000 manufacturing jobs – including those in landmark auto manufacturing facilities in Greer and Ridgeville – our state has more than 46,000 clean energy jobs. That number is only growing, especially because South Carolina has a robust clean energy infrastructure. This includes seven nuclear reactors producing over half of our energy in a carbon-free way, the University of South Carolina’s hydrogen and fuel cell research center, and the newly opened ES Foundry solar cell factory in Greenwood, which is set to become the largest such factory in the United States. This solar cell factory is particularly notable because panels made here in South Carolina will produce drastically less pollution than Chinese solar panels advertised as “net-zero,” but made with dirty coal power.

With the FPFA, businesses like these will be free from worrying about unscrupulous competitors that ignore environmental standards and can focus on increasing these clean energy investments here in South Carolina.

Such investments are especially important as countries like China are laser-focused on dominating the clean energy market (ironically, it is a leader in clean energy technology innovation, even while its economy remains remarkably dirty). We can keep those energy jobs here at home. Along with other trade fixes and targeted investments, this move would help the United States be the undisputed leader in the energy of the future.

Unlike other clean energy plans that rely on top-down, economically damaging federal regulations, a foreign pollution fee puts a simple price tag on environmental uncleanness and then lets the market do the rest. It is one of the only environmental tools that promises to raise a significant amount of money, which may be helpful as Congress sorts out its tax agenda.

Here in South Carolina, we know that fair trade is the best trade, that economic growth is the key to prosperity, and that we can have both of those goods, all while defending our environment. Senator Graham’s Foreign Pollution Fee Act is a smart way to protect South Carolina workers and spur our state’s leadership in clean manufacturing.

Evan Patrohay is a proud South Carolinian, graduate of Clemson University, and 2021-2022 Fulbright Scholar to Norway. He currently works as the Conservation and Restoration Coordinator for the Ashepoo-Combahee-Edisto (ACE) Basin National Estuarine Research Reserve (NERR). Views expressed in this article are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of NERR.