Speakers

Sheldon Whitehouse represents Rhode Island in the United States Senate, where he is fighting to position America as a leader in the clean energy economy and protect the Ocean State from the consequences of climate change. As Chairman of the Senate Budget Committee and a senior member of the Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Whitehouse spearheads policies combatting the climate crisis and strengthening environmental protections.

Whitehouse shaped the major climate components of Democrats’ historic Inflation Reduction Act, which is expected to push the U.S. from a 25 percent to a 40 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions. The major climate provisions developed by Whitehouse or modeled after legislation he authored include a suite of clean energy programs, most notably the provision to expand the 45Q tax credit for carbon capture and the provision to incentivize the production of sustainable aviation fuel. Whitehouse also pushed to include expanded clean energy tax credits for utility-scale wind, solar, nuclear, and clean hydrogen.

Whitehouse has introduced bicameral legislation to speed the build-out of interstate transmission lines to connect and upgrade regional grids. The Senator has led legislation establishing a price on carbon and instituting a carbon border adjustment, which would give American companies a step up in the global marketplace while steering the planet toward climate safety. Whitehouse has also crafted policies to curb profiteering by oil companies and combat the influence of fossil-fuel money in our politics.

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