Senate Environment and Public Works ranking member Sheldon Whitehouse is firing a fresh warning shot against a trend emerging across the country: climate liability shields for fossil fuel companies.
The Rhode Island Democrat said high-stakes energy permitting negotiations on Capitol Hill could — once again — be called off if the Trump administration and Republican lawmakers move to give legal immunity to companies for their role in climate-related hazards like flooding.
“If they want to blow up permitting reform, making this nonsense national would be the way to do it,” Whitehouse posted on social media Sunday. “Rule of Law must fall before Fossil Fuel? What has fossil fuel pollution done to Great Salt Lake, ‘Greatest Snow On Earth’?”
Whitehouse was responding to a POLITICO story about Utah becoming the first state last week to grant companies such a shield. Rep. Harriet Hageman (R-Wyo), who’s running for Senate, has said she’s looking at similar legislation on a national scale.
