Senator Whitehouse on Why Democrats Need a Climate Villain | Energy on the Ballot

"Little Red Riding Hood is kind of a dumb story without the wolf."

That's how Senator Sheldon Whitehouse thinks Democrats have been telling the climate story. His wolf is the fossil fuel industry, and it shows up on your electric bill.

When the Trump administration blocks cheap clean power, the grid falls back on pricier fossil plants and families pay the difference. He calls it a "ginormous money pump."

Whitehouse represents Rhode Island and is the top Democrat on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. He is also one of four senators behind the bipartisan permitting bill released shortly after this conversation was recorded.

Part of Energy on the Ballot, our series on energy and the 2026 midterms.

In this episode:

• The half-price offshore wind power for Rhode Island that drew two federal stop-work orders
• "Have you ever seen anything go from zero to everybody hates you faster than data centers?"
• Why he hates, loathes, and despises one stage of federal review, and his fix for it
• What a plumber in Orlando loses when nobody will insure their home
• Russia as "a gas station run by gangsters who have an army," and the sanctions law he wants the president to use
• The dark money bill he wants Democrats to pass and dare the president to veto

Learn more at energyempire.fm