Senator Sheldon Whitehouse began delivering weekly climate change speeches on April 18, 2012, motivated by a perception that the Obama Administration was neglecting the issue. He created a poster stating "TIME TO WAKE UP" and continued his efforts through both Obama's second term and Trump's presidency, often addressing an empty Senate floor. Upon President Biden's inauguration, Whitehouse paused his speeches, optimistic about progress. However, he resumed them in February 2022 due to concerns about the Biden Administration's commitment to climate action.
"There were years at a time when the Obama Administration wouldn't use the word climate and change in the same paragraph," Whitehouse recalled recently.
"Congress is still doing nothing," he noted in his two-hundred-and-second speech, delivered in April, 2018.
When Joe Biden took office, in January, 2021, Whitehouse gave up his weekly speeches. "Biden was making a lot of positive noises about taking climate stuff seriously," Whitehouse said.
In February, 2022, he pulled his sign out of storage. "Sure enough, the Biden Administration was pretty spongy," he said.
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