Issue Position: Protecting Our Environment

Issue Position

Issue Position: Protecting Our Environment

Protecting Our Environment
Our planet is now at a crossroads. Global warming is the most pressing environmental challenge of our time, and if it goes unchecked, the consequences for Rhode Island and our entire country will be devastating. In 2008, the Senate Environment and Public Works (EPW) Committee, on which I serve, was the first congressional committee to pass comprehensive global warming legislation. I'm proud that bill included measures I sponsored to help coastal communities like those in Rhode Island prepare for the effects of global warming, address the serious impacts of climate change on our wildlife and marine ecosystems, and protect consumers from rising energy costs. Unfortunately, President Bush was unwilling to take the threat of global warming seriously and Congress was not able to pass the bill. Thankfully, in the 111th Congress and under the leadership of President Obama we have a new opportunity to lay the groundwork for a clean energy future that will help slow global climate change and create a stronger, more resilient American economy with new American jobs producing clean, American made energy.

Because of Rhode Island's unique relationship with the sea, I believe it is particularly important to protect Narragansett Bay and its waterways. I'm a cosponsor of the Clean Water Restoration Act, a bill that would restore important environmental protections to our communities' water supplies - safeguards that were recently removed by the Supreme Court. Protecting our waters will also help us maintain the Ocean State's vibrant fishing and recreational boating industries. This year the EPW Committee passed this legislation with my strong support, and I am hopeful that the full House and Senate will soon follow suit.

During its eight years in power, the Bush Administration's approach to environmental regulation was to put politics before science, and the interests of big polluters before the health and safety of the American people. Since taking office, President Obama has worked to reverse these misguided policies and restore the role of science as a guiding principle for federal environmental regulation. As the Chair of the EPW Committee's Subcommittee on Oversight, I have worked to help fulfill this vision by holding hearings with government officials, including EPA Administrator Jackson, on how our Federal agencies are helping restore the role of science in the regulatory process to better protect our families and environment.

I will continue to use my position on the EPW Committee to clean up pollution in our communities, protect our waters, save threatened wildlife species, and stop global warming, and to undo the harms inflicted by the Bush Administration on our environment and the institutions charged with protecting our public health and natural heritage. I look forward to working with President Obama on these critical issues.

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