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Sheldon Whitehouse: “Wildfires driven by drought and wind are burning far more…”

Featuring: Sheldon Whitehouse, Democratic | U.S. Senate Rhode Island

Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It

Published May 20, 2026 | Video Starts at 08:27

But the area in the United States burned by wildfires keeps climbing and climbing. And the harm that this causes goes on and on. Hurricanes driven by warmer seas are becoming stronger and wetter. Wildfires driven by drought and wind are burning far more land. And it's not just scientists who are reporting what they measure. You can actually go back to a very interesting and somewhat unique data set in Japan in Kyoto. (08:27–08:35)

CLAIM

Asserts that wildfires are burning more land due to drought and wind.

This is an excerpt from a raw transcript. The assertions have not been audited or verified. Tap the video to view the source footage and understand the context.

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Sheldon Whitehouse

“The fossil fuel industry has known for nearly 60 years that they are the primary cause of climate change, their emissions.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 00:44-01:04
“We are now warming the oceans by 23 zettajoules a year, breaking the ocean heat content record for the ninth consecutive year.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 05:15-05:30
“The whole energy footprint of humankind on planet Earth is half a zetajoule.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 06:05-06:15
“The oceans, because of that excess fossil fuel emission, is absorbing more than 40 times that much [energy].”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 06:14-06:26
“The Japanese people have been measuring the peak bloom of their cherry trees for 1200 years.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 08:57-09:09
“All of this drives up energy bills at a time when oil prices are already extremely high because of Trump's mad war in Iran.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 11:42-11:57
“It's a big cost when homeowners insurance, which starts as a big number, doubles as it has in Iowa in recent years.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 12:09-12:21
“In my state of Rhode Island, we tried to bring clean energy onto our grid at a contract price of $0.09 per kilowatt hour from an offshore…”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 21:18-21:38
“Climate change is real.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 00:26-00:29
“Climate change is real.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 00:26-00:29
“Oceans are warming because of climate change.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 01:26-01:31
“NASA says [there is] unequivocal evidence that the Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate with human activity the principal cause.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 02:15-02:30
“NASA maintains there is unequivocal evidence that Earth is warming at an unprecedented rate and that human activity is the principal cause.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 02:15-02:30
“The Keeling curve reflects the concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 03:45-03:52
“Global average temperature is increasing at an accompanying rate as the CO2 emissions climb.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 03:55-04:08
“Most of the excess heat that fossil fuel emissions cause gets absorbed by the oceans.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 04:36-04:56
“When Antarctic's ice mass shrinks, the ice that is on the land that goes into the water does what raises the sea level.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 06:41-06:58
“Sea levels are rising as a result of climate change.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 07:14-07:19
“We measure sea level rise with tide monitors.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 07:24-07:28
“The area in the United States burned by wildfires keeps climbing and climbing.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 08:08-08:15
“Hurricanes driven by warmer seas are becoming stronger and wetter.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 08:19-08:27
“As CO2 went up and as the planet heated, spring came sooner.”
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“We have more violent storms, we have more ferocious and damaging wildfires, we have hotter temperatures, we have a dramatically warming…”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 10:25-10:39
“Climate change has moved from the Science department to the economics department because all of those science measures bring costs onto the…”
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“Droughts, wildfires, hurricanes disrupt agriculture and transit of groceries, and they make food more expensive for Americans.”
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“These climate impacts drive up homeowners insurance in regions where the climate risk becomes unmanageable.”
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“We're seeing that right now in Florida.”
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“Republicans have sent [arguments questioning] the measurements and the facts of climate change [to the floor of the United States Senate].”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 20:12-20:15
“The questions are the talking points of the fossil fuel industry.”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 20:29-20:33
“Human activity is fossil fuel burning and emissions. That is not a question. That is a known thing.”
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“The Trump administration tried twice, illegally to stop [the offshore wind project].”
Whitehouse Introduces Resolution To Acknowledge Climate Change Is Real–Then Ron Johnson Blocks It | Uploaded May 20, 2026 | 21:45-21:50
“Wherever you go in the country, clean energy is the least expensive power.”
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