Senator Sheldon Whitehouse on Climate, the IRA, and a Coming Political Shift

On Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., Heatmap hosted an evening of discussion on energy innovation and security, featuring special guest Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island.

Guests at Heatmap's discussion on energy innovation and securityMariah Miranda Photography

We’re in the “era of climate consequences,” Whitehouse told Heatmap senior reporter Jael Holzman. Climate politics has so far largely failed, he said, due to the “malign and corrupting” influence of the fossil fuel industry. Now, things like expensive disaster cleanups and skyrocketing insurance are creating opportunities to talk to voters about climate policy in a new way. And that means largely abandoning the climate politics of the past.

Jael Holtzman and Sheldon WhitehouseMariah Miranda Photography

“The Inflation Reduction Act was fine,” he said. “But nobody believed it put us on a pathway of climate safety. So we have always needed to do more.” Some portions of the IRA may survive the Trump administration’s anti-renewables agenda, particularly those sections that are delivering benefits to Republican-led states, he said. “I think the legislative focus should be on defending that. The parliamentary focus should be on defending that. But the narrative focus shouldn't be on defending that,” Whitehouse said. “The narrative has to move on.”

Senator Whitehouse making a point.Mariah Miranda Photography

Also on Wednesday night, Heatmap CEO and editor in chief Nico Lauricella interviewed Benton Arnett, senior director of markets and policy at the Nuclear Energy Institute, which sponsored the event. Their discussion focused on the changing prospects for the nuclear industry. “If we were having this conversation three years ago, we would be talking about which nuclear plant we might shut down next, right?” Arnett said. “It was really a dire time for the industry.”

Nico Lauricella and Benton ArnettMariah Miranda Photography

Today, the industry has benefited from a host of converging positive factors, including rising demand for reliable 24/7 energy sources that has brought investor interest into the space, as well as policy changes and incentives — particularly 45U, the IRA’s tax credit for nuclear energy — that have helped clear away some of the barriers to new nuclear development.

Should we call it a nuclear renaissance, Lauricella asked? A revival?

“I just call it a good time,” Arnett said.

Nico Lauricella and Benton ArnettMariah Miranda Photography

Guests following the discussionMariah Miranda Photography

Mariah Miranda Photography

Mariah Miranda Photography

Mariah Miranda Photography

Mariah Miranda Photography

Mariah Miranda Photography

Thank you to our sponsors, the Nuclear Energy Institute and the Alliance for Market Solutions, for making the event possible.