TAX WHAT YOU DON'T WANT:

It's one of several pay-fors that Senate Finance Chair Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) is working on as part of the effort to fully offset the massive spending package, according to a presentation given to Senate Democrats during their weekly caucus lunch Tuesday.

Wyden, who spoke at multiple events with interest groups yesterday, said that Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) is "working very closely with me on the pricing issue."

"If you're really going to change behavior and combat this climate crisis -- and my God, last few weeks have shown why this is urgent -- you've really got to start with taxes and prices," Wyden said during an event with the business group Environmental Entrepreneurs, or E2. "That's how you drive changes in behavior."

It's the latest sign that a carbon tax or fee could be in the mix for reconciliation, in addition to the Clean Electricity Performance Program, or CEPP, and a suite of other climate policies.

A separate Finance Committee document circulating around Capitol Hill last month included a broad proposal for a carbon tax starting at $15 per ton, paired with rebates for low-income taxpayers, as a potential way to finance the package. Whitehouse, a longtime carbon pricing supporter, and other Senate Democrats, have also said for weeks that the idea is still in play 

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