Senator Sheldon Whitehouse

Roles: Special Guest

U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse is fighting to reduce carbon pollution, protect our air and water, and position America as a leader in the clean energy economy. As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) and Finance Committees, he plays a key role in crafting policies to address climate change and strengthen environmental protections. Sen. Whitehouse is a leading voice for urgent action on climate change. For nearly nine years, he took to the Senate floor each week the Senate was in session to call on Congress to wake up to the threat of climate change. Whitehouse co-founded the Senate Climate Action Task Force to build support for action to address carbon pollution, and sits on Senate Democrats’ Special Committee on the Climate Crisis. He has introduced numerous pieces of climate legislation, including a bill to establish a fee on carbon—a strong market incentive to cut emissions while generating substantial revenue to be returned from polluters to the American people. Sen. Whitehouse leads bipartisan action in the Senate to protect our oceans. In 2011, Whitehouse worked across the aisle to form the Senate Oceans Caucus, to address pollution and commercial activity on oceans, coasts, and Great Lakes. Whitehouse created the National Coastal Resilience Fund to help communities in Rhode Island and across the country prepare for sea level rise and other effects of climate change. And to confront the major challenge of ocean plastic and other marine debris pollution, he wrote and passed the bipartisan Save Our Seas and Save Our Seas 2.0 Acts. In addition to EPW and Finance, Whitehouse is a member of the Budget and Judiciary Committees. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Whitehouse served as Rhode Island’s U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General before being elected to the United States Senate in 2006.