Sheldon Whitehouse
Senator for Rhode Island · Democratic · United States
“We can now connect climate change to specific individual events. In the case of the L.A. fires, scientists from the World Weather Attribution and Imperial College London found that climate change made the weather conditions that drove these fires 35 percent more likely. This kind of analysis is called climate attribution.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“Each time faced with well-documented truths about sea level rise or wide-ranging climate economic fallout, Republicans have objected. Well, climate change isn't stopping or slowing down, and I won't either. So today's simple truth is that climate change is making wildfires more frequent, more intense, and more destructive.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“And as we go through those different stages from climate risk to insurance to mortgages to property values, unfortunately, Florida led the country last year in lost property values, which is at least, in part, I think a function of this risk and how it is hammering Florida homeowners.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“This is a pretty longtime chart in this instance. This is now. So how does it work? What does that heat do to drive wildfires? Well, warmer air draws more moisture out of the soil, out of plants, out of bodies of water. There is a scientific name for this. NOAA calls the phenomenon evaporative demand or sometimes atmospheric thirst.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“They are running at about $14,000 already in insurance costs for homes in Florida. Double that--not double it, add 200 percent and add 300 percent. That is actually tripling and quadrupling. You can see how that begins to hammer the home's value. And here, you see a similar problem.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
“You might want to start the shot clock on how long it takes for the fossil fuel goons to get in there and change the website. Climate change makes droughts last longer. The Forest Service reports that what was once a 4-month fire season now lasts 6 to 8 months. So there are more opportunities for any spark to start a dangerous blaze.”
Senate23 September 2026Source ↗
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“I hope my Republican colleagues will rise to the occasion because this is a basic attack on our Constitution, and it is a basic attack on the legislative branch of government. With that, I yield the floor.”
Senate28 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I think this is my first time with you presiding, so it is good to see you. This power grab--this attempted power grab--that took place today in flagrant disregard for our separation of powers has a home not in the Constitution but in Project 2025.”
Senate28 January 2025Source ↗
“I yield the floor.”
Senate28 January 2025Source ↗
“So I urge you to consider those dangers as we move forward toward this vote. I yield the floor.”
Senate24 January 2025Source ↗
“To stave off the worst consequences, we must eliminate the carbon pollution that is the root of it all. President Trump's Executive orders do exactly the opposite, exposing us to grave economic dangers, and for the worst of reasons: to reward wealthy special interests who donated to his campaign. The American people need to watch their wallets. When President Trump says he is fighting for you, think twice. He is actually fighting for the Big Oil donors--the fossil fuel billionaires--who got him elected. The looters and the polluters are looking to get ever richer, and they will loot working families, pollute Mother Nature, and damage our families' futures to do it. So we fight on. I yield the floor.”
Senate23 January 2025Source ↗
“How about that for ``Make America Great Again.'' I tell you, when you actually take a look under the hood, what you see every time is that the benefits of these Republican tax cuts go to the biggest corporations, to the billionaires, and to corporate CEOs, and within those biggest corporations, the worst ones for moving jobs and profits offshore. It is as reliable as the sunrise, and it is as wrong as it can be. I yield to my friend Senator Rosen.”
Senate15 January 2025Source ↗
“I ask for the yeas and nays.”
Senate13 January 2025Source ↗
“Mr. President, I ask that the vote begin at this moment.”
Senate13 January 2025Source ↗