Senate Climate Champion Says Dems, Groups Taking It Too Easy on 'Malevolent' Fossil Fuel Industry

Rhode Island Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse, who has long been a chief advocate for taking action on human-induced climate change, challenged both his own party and environmental advocacy groups on Wednesday to step up the intensity of their battle against the fossil fuel industry.

As reported by The Guardian, Whitehouse delivered his 300th speech on the Senate floor warning about the dangers of climate change, and he said that proponents of taking action to combat it have for too long been "too cautious and polite" when dealing with the big oil and gas companies.

Watch the full speech:

In particular, Whitehouse singled out the fossil fuel industry for warping the debate about climate change by spending decades pushing misinformation aimed at deceiving the public about the realities of the climate emergency—an effort that he characterized as "the biggest and most malevolent propaganda operation the country has ever seen." Additionally, Whitehouse said the industry was behind the right-wing capture of the United States Supreme Court and the flood of dark money into American elections that has benefited giant corporate interests and blocked meaningful action on climate change.

"Think of all three special-interest campaigns as a single covert operation," he said. "A covert op run against America by forces within our country: An enemy within of creepy billionaires, fossil fuel interests, and far-right foundations determined to impose on the country a blighted and unpopular vision that they could never achieve democratically."

He then argued that proponents of climate action needed to move with speed to counter such forces before lamenting that Democrats always "showed up too late" to make a difference at key points in recent history.

"I'd say my party fell into a rut," he said. "We too often allowed pollsters to determine our priorities. There are uses for pollsters in politics, but pollsters should not set priorities. Politicians worth their salt should set their own priorities, using their own judgement, based on their own interactions with their constituents, and their own powers of foresight and anticipation."

He went on to say that "if you wait to fight until the polls tell you an issue is important, the battle can be over before you show up."

Whitehouse contrasted Democrats' use of polling to dictate their agendas with Republicans' use of polling to determine how to mold and shape public opinion to their desired outcomes. What's more, he said Democrats' reliance on polls and focus groups to determine messaging had damaged the party's brand among voters who see it as weak and without principles.

"If you're always meeting voters where they are or were, they'll begin to notice that you never have anything new to say, that they never learn anything from you, that you're not a leader but a follower," he said. "That sense of political listlessness quietly sinks in and informs the political refrain: Republicans are shameless, Democrats are spineless."