Monday, June 2, 2025

Opening Plenary | 8:30 AM – 10:00 AM 

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse
U.S. Senator | Rhode Island

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 Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, Whitehouse takes on the fossil fuel industry and spearheads policies combatting the climate crisis and strengthening environmental protections.

Senator Whitehouse is one of the Senate’s leading climate champions.  He co-founded the Senate Climate Action Task Force to build support for action to address carbon pollution.  Whitehouse also shaped major climate components of Senate Democrats’ historic Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. 

As a co-founder of the Senate Oceans Caucus, Senator Whitehouse plays a key role in crafting bipartisan policies to protect our oceans.  To confront the major challenges of ocean plastic pollution, he passed the bipartisan Save Our Seas and Save Our Seas 2.0 Acts into law.  The Senator also created the National Coastal Resilience Fund to restore and strengthen the natural infrastructure that protects coastal communities while safeguarding wildlife habitats. 

Senator Whitehouse is leading the transition to a clean energy economy.  Whitehouse introduced the bipartisan RISEE Act to create a dedicated stream of funding from offshore development for coastal protection and resiliency.  He has also introduced the COLLABORATE Act to improve the offshore wind development process and get more affordable, reliable clean energy on the grid. 

In addition to EPW, Whitehouse is a member of the Budget, Finance, 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.