Sheldon gets a promotion, clean air to benefit

Thanks to Montana Senator Max Baucus becoming the ambassador to China, and his own stellar record in advocating for clean air, Rhode Island Senator Sheldon Whitehouse will become the new chairman of the Environment and Public Works Subcommittee on Clean Air and Nuclear Safety.

I look forward to using my position as chairman of the Clean Air Subcommittee to support the administration’s plan and push for the strongest possible standards,” Whitehouse said in an email announcing his promotion. “People in downwind states like Rhode Island shouldn’t be inundated by pollution from power plants in other states.”

According the email from Sheldon’s office:

Senator Whitehouse testified last week in support of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) proposed carbon pollution standards for new power plants, has pushed for EPA to  revise its outdated ozone standard, and has long supported and EPA’s  Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.  During his time as Rhode Island’s Attorney General, Whitehouse joined EPA’s lawsuit against American Electric Power for its illegal modification of 16 plants.  And he has repeatedly spoken out in the Senate about the contribution of tall smoke stacks to East Coast air pollution.

Whitehouse is also the co-chair of the Bicameral Task Force on Climate Change and the Senate Climate Action Task Force.  He served previously as chairman of the EPW Subcommittee on Oversight, which will now be chaired by Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ).