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BPR Interview: Sheldon Whitehouse

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Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) has been Rhode Island’s junior senator since 2007 and is the former Rhode Island attorney general. He serves on the Senate Budget Committee, Environment and Public Works Committee and the Judiciary Committee, among others.

Brown Political Review: You recently went to the People’s Climate March in New York City. Can you describe what that was like for you and why it was important?

Sheldon Whitehouse: I don’t think I’m ever going to forget when everybody put their hands up and the entire parade, running dozens of blocks, fell silent. A shout started from the back and came roaring down like a wave until it swept over us. That was pretty amazing. I think it’s important that things like that demonstrate where the public is on this issue. Right now, the Republican Party is what is preventing action on climate, because they’re torn between their desire to conform to what their constituents expect them to do and their allegiance to the polluting industries that are responsible for so much of their campaign funding. The more that the public can make its position clear, the more it tips that balance. At some point that balance is going to tip to the point that we’ll have the Republicans working with us and we’ll be able to get something done.

BPR: Since 2013, the Obama administration has committed a particular focus to climate change. What impact will Obama’s Climate Action Plan have in the United States and internationally?

SW: The most important thing is to see the existing power plant rule through into operation. Right now it is a proposed regulation that must go through the whole administrative process before it becomes a real regulation and begins to have more of an effect. That’s terribly important. The other thing is to forge an agreement with China. We can probably incorporate, without too much effort, the European Union into any agreement. And then you have the vast bulk of the world’s economy behind a common strategy.

BPR: How can the United States help the climate change agreement in Paris and combat coal companies’ influence?

SW: I think making sure that we nail down an agreement with China and with other nations is the most important thing. If we can get that done, then a lot of other things will fall into place. That’s just going to take a lot of effort, a lot of negotiating and a lot of creativity. But it’s doable. If we look at the stakes, it’s important to do it, and it’s possible. So long as there is a Democratic president, such a deal could be negotiated. The Republicans could complain, but they don’t get to control foreign policy in their branch of government.

BPR: What steps are necessary to bridge the gap between the two parties with respect to climate change?

SW: I think the gap is inevitable. The Republican Party is in step with the oil and coal industries, but way out of step with the public. A poll of Republican voters under the age of 35 showed that a majority claim that denying climate change is ignorant, out of touch or crazy. When you have a party whose under-35 voters think that their party’s position is ignorant, out of touch or crazy, you know that the policy, frankly, cannot be long-standing.

BPR: Do you think that the gap between the opinions of the public and those of Congress should color policy responses to other social issues?

SW: I think we’ve seen it with gay marriage. Members of Congress were the last ones to get the memo, but when they did, they pivoted immediately. Now you can hardly find a senator or a congressman criticizing and attacking gay marriage. Just a few years ago, it was a constant theme. Ultimately, there was a realization that they were so out of step with the American public that they had to shift. I think something very similar is going to happen with the climate.

BPR: What impact will the Affordable Care Act (ACA) have on the midterm elections?

SW: There are some local impacts in places where the exchange was particularly poorly handled. Six months ago, the Republicans thought that they were going to ride the ACA to victory and that the race was going to be all about Obamacare. What we’re seeing now is that Democratic candidates in conservative states are running on their support for elements of Obamacare. A lot of the Republicans have moved to other issues because there has been enough actual experience with the ACA that the myths are evaporating. People are starting to like what they see, particularly people who have never had coverage before or whose children had a preexisting condition.

BPR: What types of policy changes do you think could make the ACA better?

SW: The two great victories of the ACA were dramatically expanding access to health insurance and eliminating some of the injustice in the health insurance marketplace…What the ACA left undone was the work of changing the health care delivery system so that it provides better health care at a lower cost.

BPR: How can the ACA make physicians more accessible to people who need them?

SW: There’s going to be a transition in the health care market from being able to see any doctor you want at any time to going to doctors who are properly connected into the electronic health record systems, meet quality controls and provide the adequate kind of care. When you’re really sick, having your choice of doctor can be a lot less valuable than having doctors who know what the other doctors are doing for your care and who are not getting caught in conflicts between different medical practices and different providers that aren’t talking to each other and aren’t linked electronically…There’s still a lot of work to be done for health care costs and health care quality. And the ACA laid a few foundations for beginning to take on that problem, but that’s the big problem that remains. That’s where Republicans and Democrats can still work together. Some of the best work is being done in states that have Republican senators. That sets a pretty good expectation that this can be a bipartisan issue.

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