In his 300th Time to Wake Up speech to the US Senate on 9 July 2025, Whitehouse lays bare how fossil fuel interests have systematically captured the courts, corrupted politics, and delayed climate solutions at immense cost to the public and the planet.
For over a decade, US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse has warned about the dangers of fossil fuel pollution and the hidden power of dark money in politics. You have heard him in The Sustainable Hour podcast hundreds of times, when we played the short excerpt from one of his first speeches, where he says: “This is a battle between truth and science and power and lies.”
His words offer a stark warning not only for Americans but also for Australians, where similar forces have shaped climate policy. Watch the full speech in the video above, and read our summary of his main points below. Also, we have produced this music video as a tribute to Mr Whitehouse:
Senator Whitehouse exposes fossil fuel’s grip on democracy
On 18 June 2024, US Senator Sheldon Whitehouse rose to deliver his 300th speech to the Senate titled “Time to Wake Up.” For over a decade he has warned of the dangers of fossil fuel pollution and the dark money corrupting American democracy. In this milestone address, he drew the threads of his arguments together to show how the fossil fuel industry has systematically captured the political system, obstructed climate action, and endangered the planet.
Although his speech was addressed to an American audience, Australians will find much that resonates. We too live in a democracy that has been heavily influenced by fossil fuel interests – from political donations to media narratives to policy inertia.
Here are the main points from his speech.
From science to politics to consequences
Whitehouse began by tracing the path of climate action in the US. First came the scientific warnings – which the scientists, even those employed by Exxon, got right. Then came the political phase, where Congress failed to act. And now, we are entering the “era of consequences”, where predicted disasters are becoming real: floods, fires, and economic disruption.
He blamed this failure not on ignorance but on a deliberate, covert campaign funded by fossil fuel interests.
A three-pronged covert operation
According to Whitehouse, three interconnected strategies have been deployed against American democracy – all driven largely by fossil fuel money:
- Capture of the Supreme Court – Right-wing billionaires and fossil fuel allies influenced appointments to tilt the court in favour of corporate interests and against climate regulation.
- Floods of dark money in politics – Billions of dollars in untraceable donations have bought influence, drowning out the voices of ordinary citizens and leaving voters disillusioned.
- The climate denial campaign – A decades-long disinformation operation designed to block climate solutions and sow doubt about the science.
He described these as a “covert operation” by an “enemy within” – billionaires and polluters who could never win public support openly, so they acted in secret.
Too late, too timid
Whitehouse also criticised his own party for being too slow and timid, relying too much on polls instead of foresight and leadership. By the time polls show an issue is urgent, he argued, it can already be too late – as with court capture, dark money, and climate damage.
Polling, he said, looks backwards – whereas leaders must look ahead. Failing to act early has allowed the fossil fuel lobby to entrench itself.
The economic storm is here
He warned of looming economic collapse driven by climate risks, already visible in the collapse of insurance markets in high-risk areas. Rising insurance costs are undermining property markets and threatening systemic economic harm.
Fossil fuels enjoy a massive subsidy – estimated at US$700 billion per year in the US – because they are allowed to pollute for free. This violates basic market principles and distorts the economy in favour of polluters.
What can be done?
Whitehouse argued that the path forward is clear, though not easy.
On climate:
– End the free ride for polluters.
– Impose a proper price on carbon pollution.
– Support international mechanisms like the EU’s carbon border adjustment.
On dark money:
– Pass laws to require disclosure of political donors so voters know who is funding campaigns.
On the courts:
– Enforce a proper ethics code on the Supreme Court.
– Reform appointments and increase transparency.
– Rebuild public trust in the judiciary.
Shining a light
Whitehouse believes that the key advantage is truth itself. The fossil fuel industry’s success relies on secrecy and lies, exposing its networks of influence can weaken its power.
He calls for better organisation, better intelligence on the networks of front groups and operatives, and the courage to fight strategy with strategy – not just money with money.
A warning and a call to action
He concluded by urging urgency. Climate change, he said, is a “ratchet” – some damage cannot be undone. Every year of delay makes the task harder and the risks greater.
“This is a battle with a ratchet,” he warned. “There are some things you just can’t come back from. The ratchet has clicked and there’s no return. So, it is urgent. It is time for us all to wake up and fight.”
Sheldon Whitehouse represents Rhode Island in the U.S. Senate, where he champions policies to uphold American leadership in the world, protect our planet in a changing climate, and hold the powerful accountable.
→ Watch the full speech on Youtube:
Senator Whitehouse delivers 300th Time to Wake Up speech
→ Read the full transcript
→ Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s official U.S. Senate page: www.whitehouse.senate.gov
This story is part of the 89 Percent Project, an initiative of the global journalism collaboration Covering Climate Now
Senator Sheldon Whitehouse tears down a Senate Judiciary Subcommittee hearing as the unspooling of a fossil fuel-funded GOP fever dream.
New report exposes global alliance spreading climate misinformation
A new report from the International Panel on the Information Environment (IPIE) reveals how a coordinated alliance of fossil fuel companies, right-wing populist parties, think tanks, and conspiratorial movements is deliberately spreading sophisticated misinformation to undermine climate science and delay action.
This effort has evolved from outright denial to sowing doubt about scientific mechanisms, discrediting solutions, and greenwashing. Fossil fuel giants like Exxon, Shell, BP, and coal companies, along with industries such as aviation, plastics, tourism, and AI, fund misleading campaigns through think tanks, media, and bots.
Right-wing parties in the US and Europe amplify these narratives, using emotionally charged rhetoric, nostalgia, and conspiracy theories. Social media — including bots — and hidden lobbying of policymakers reinforce this climate obstruction.
The result is a post-truth climate landscape, where trust in science and governments is eroded, and feelings of anger, fear, and hopelessness suppress civic engagement and climate action.
The UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate, Elisa Morgera, and the IPIE both call for stronger regulations, bans on fossil fuel advertising, and empowering civil society to counteract these powerful alliances.
Key recommendations and implications
From the IPIE report:
- Stronger regulation:
– Enforce transparent, standardised reporting of CO₂ footprints and climate impacts by companies and public bodies.
– Regulate media and advertising to prevent greenwashing and deliberate misinformation. - Expose hidden influence:
– Scrutinise and limit how think tanks and lobbyists, funded by industry, shape policy behind the scenes. - Counter-publics and coalitions:
– Support grassroots movements and coalitions of civil society (“coalitions of the willing”) to counter fossil-aligned narratives and push for climate action. - Monitor digital spaces:
– Address the growing role of bots and coordinated disinformation campaigns on social media.
– Educate the public about manipulation tactics in a post-truth environment.
From the UN Special Rapporteur Elisa Morgera:
- Ban fossil fuel advertising.
- End new fossil fuel exploration and extraction.
- Require phase-out plans for fossil fuel production in high-emission nations, with a deadline around 2030.
Recognise that obstruction by fossil fuel interests harms not just climate action, but also the right to information, education, and science, and undermines human rights and democratic participation.
In this podcast episode, Dr Mark Diesendorf describes the Australian state capture, and what to do about it.
→ The Guardian – 10 July 2025:
Democrats and climate groups ‘too polite’ in fight against ‘malevolent’ fossil fuel giants, says key senator
“Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island gives 300th climate speech on the US Senate floor.”
→ The Guardian – 21 July 2025:
‘Significant gap’ between Australian companies’ climate commitments and how they actually invest, analysts find
“Experts say the level of ambition in Labor’s upcoming 2035 emissions target will influence the capital decisions of many companies.”
“Those disasters didn’t just happen. They were done.”
“It is entirely possible that history will show that the three most consequential disasters for America in our lifetimes were: the capture of the Supreme Court by right-wing billionaires; the influx into our elections of floods of corrupting special interest dark money; and the success of the fossil fuel climate denial operation at blockading solutions to the fossil fuel emissions crisis.
It is entirely possible – indeed, it is likely – that fossil fuel interests were the driving force behind all three disasters. What makes these disasters the worst is that their damage will be lasting and perhaps even irrecoverable.
And our common failure in all three disasters, as Democrats, was showing up too late.
Each of these disasters was a victory for the insidious political forces behind the court’s capture, behind the corrupting dark money operation, and behind the climate denial fraud.
Remember: those disasters didn’t just happen. They were done. Much of the work done by those insidious political forces was covert and clandestine – but there were plenty of signals of what was going on to anyone paying attention.
If you paid attention to the court capture scheme, the dark money operation, and the climate fraud, you’d quickly notice the overlap of the shadowy political forces behind all three. You’d notice the common thread: fossil fuel.
Think of all three special interest campaigns as a single covert operation – a covert op run against America by forces within our country. An enemy within of creepy billionaires, fossil fuel interests, and far-right foundations determined to impose on the country a blighted and unpopular vision they could never achieve democratically.
Up against a covert power-seizing plan like that, you need to move fast. You need to engage early. If you wait too long, you’ll show up too late.
Why did we always show up too late?
It wasn’t because these disasters were minor matters. A captured Supreme Court puts an entire branch of government under hidden political control with no electoral remedy to its bad decisions. Thanks to lifetime appointments of the captured justices, capture of our Supreme Court has already caused lasting damage, deforming our constitutional order.
The same interests always winning is observable – as is the statistical improbability of that – and it degrades faith in the court. Capture rots the court from within.
A billionaire gifts program rewarded the most amenable justices with lifestyles of the rich and famous, twisting the court into knots as it tried to prevent facts from coming out, even potential tax cheating, and to defeat any real ethics code.
That is all a devilish and rotten business in a great republic.
As to dark money – well, dark money influence has corrupted Congress. Dark money political spending denies American citizens the basic information they need to do their constitutional job of policing the public square. Knowing who’s out doing what to whom is essential.
The donors, the candidates, and the party leadership – they all know the players in the game. Donors don’t spend billions without making sure the politicians know. It’s America’s citizenry that is left in ignorance.
What citizens do see and feel is that they’re not being listened to. They don’t matter so much anymore. Not when tens of millions of dollars of secret funds can be dumped into an election by a billionaire. Politicians are inevitably drawn to the money.
Remember the famous saying: Money is the mother’s milk of politics.
Climate denial fraud may be the worst of the three. Its success may have cost us our children’s futures.
The looming physical catastrophes made inevitable by fossil fuel pollution, damaging Earth’s natural systems, are first prefigured economically in insurance markets – and it’s happening.
Insurance markets are seeing what is coming. Unlike fossil fuel, the insurance industry can’t lie about our future. Insurers are under a fiduciary obligation, reinforced by trillions of dollars in bets, to predict future risk honestly and well.
And they are telling us that an economic storm is coming – driven by climate upheaval. The leading edge of that economic storm is already upon us, as homeowners’ property insurance markets melt down in Florida and other coastal and wildfire-risk areas.
We’re heading into that storm unprepared, while being lied to at industrial scale.”
~ Excerpt of Senator Sheldon Whitehouse’s 300th Time to Wake Up speech. Full transcript of the speech here.