U.S. Senator Visits SLC to Discuss Climate Change Action

This week, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse, a U.S. Senator from Rhode Island, visited with SLCgreen staff, Mayor Jackie Biskupski and community members to discuss collective action on climate change.

Senator Whitehouse is a leading advocate for climate action in the Senate.  As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and co-founder of the Senate Climate Action Task Force, he is at the heart of the policy discussions being had on this issue at our nation’s capital.  He’s also promoting solutions.

He introduced legislation to put a fee on carbon, establishing a market incentive to reduce emissions while generating substantial revenue to be returned to the American people.

This week, Sen. Whitehouse came to Utah to see how climate change is affecting our environment and economy, impacting everything from our water supply to our $1 billion ski industry. At a round table on Tuesday, he met with City  leaders to learn more, as well as to discuss SLC’s recent Climate Positive initiative and Joint Resolution which was introduced on July 12, 2016.

Sen. Whitehouse meets with Salt Lake City Sustainability Director Vicki Bennett. Photo credit: Jeri Gravlin

“Salt Lake City’s leaders get that climate change is real and already having an effect on their city,” said Sen. Whitehouse. 

“They also get that climate change demands action at every level of government.  The Mayor and City officials have crafted strong renewable energy goals and sought to expand climate research so Utahns will know what to expect and how to adapt in years to come.  I appreciate their hard work, and thank them for joining the fight for climate action.”

On Monday, he also met with Utah Clean Energy and members of the solar industry to tour the Real Salt Lake stadium– complete with a rooftop of panels– to see first-hand how solar is booming along the Wasatch Front.

He wrapped up his visit to Utah with a tour of Park City, where he met with city council members there to discuss everything our neighbor is doing to reduce emissions and “save our snow.”

Thank you for spending some time here in Utah, Sen. Whitehouse! We appreciate all you do to address climate change from Washington and beyond.