Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, the Ranking Member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, responded to the Trump Administration’s decision to withdraw from the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and several other international environmental agreements. The UNFCCC, which was unanimously ratified by the Senate, serves as a global system for addressing greenhouse gas emissions and climate change.
The administration also announced its withdrawal from organizations such as the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and United Nations-Oceans. In his statement, Senator Whitehouse said: “This polluter-driven stoogery shows the full extent of creepy polluters’ control over the Trump Administration. Trump’s corrupt fossil fuel interests threaten the well-being of millions around the world on the front lines of climate disaster, defy the will of the American people, and damage U.S. economic competitiveness. Moreover, once the Senate has ratified a treaty, only the Senate can withdraw from the treaty; this announcement is not just corrupt, it’s illegal.”
He continued: “The economic cascade—climate change disrupting weather, damaging insurance and mortgage markets, crashing property values and systemically damaging the entire economy—has already begun. Denying scientific fact and forfeiting U.S. climate leadership to our economic competitors is folly; doing so for corrupt reasons is worse. As climate change drives up insurance premiums, grocery prices, and energy costs, American families will pay the price for Trump’s fossil fuel corruption.”
The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee oversees federal programs related to environmental protection and infrastructure development through specialized subcommittees that address pollution control, water resources, transportation infrastructure and natural resource conservation (https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/). The committee handles legislation with nationwide effects on environmental matters in the United States while influencing federal policy on regulations affecting wildlife protection and infrastructure maintenance (https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/). Its administrative base is located in Washington D.C.’s Dirksen Office Building to support hearings and operations (https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/).
Shelley Moore Capito currently chairs this standing Senate panel focused on public works projects since its reorganization in 1977 expanded its oversight responsibilities (https://www.epw.senate.gov/public/).
