As a member of the Senate Environment and Public Works and Finance Committees, he plays a key role in crafting policies to address climate change and strengthen environmental protections.  Every week, Sen. Whitehouse takes to the Senate floor to call on Congress to wake up to the threat of climate change - an enormous risk to homes and businesses in Rhode Island.   Whitehouse co-founded the Senate Climate Action Task Force to build support for action to address carbon pollution.  He sits on Senate Democrats' Special Committee on the Climate Crisis.  He has also introduced numerous pieces of climate legislation, including a bill to establish a fee on carbon, a market incentive to reduce emissions while generating substantial revenue to be returned to the American people. In addition to EPW and Finance, he is a member of the Budget and Judiciary Committees. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Virginia School of Law, Whitehouse served as Rhode Island's U.S. Attorney and state Attorney General before being elected to the United States Senate in 2006.