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August 6, 2007

Whitehouse views global warming in Greenland

It’s a long way from the Cliff Walk . . .

But the junior senator from Rhode Island is plainly in his element as part of a delegation of 10 solons touring Greenland late last month in search of evidence of global warming.

Indeed, such evidence abounded, according to Democratic Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse and several of his traveling colleagues on the Environment and Public Works Committee.

According to the panel’s news release about the two-day trip, the legislators saw the effects of rising global temperatures on Greenland’s ice sheets and glaciers.

The release quoted Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., the committee chairwoman, as saying: “It’s one thing to hear about the Greenland ice sheet; it’s another thing to see it. It’s one thing to read about the impacts of global warming on the native people there; it’s another thing to have them look you in the eye and tell you. After this trip, with nine of my colleagues, and scientists, and experts, I know I have a responsibility to move now to lessen the impacts of severe global warming. We can do it in a way that actually makes us stronger as a nation and that is my goal.”

Senator Whitehouse said, “Greenland is our planet’s distant early-warning system for the effects of climate change. To see firsthand the changes at the ice cap, and to hear firsthand of hunters who can no longer take dog sleds out on the ice because it isn’t there, is a powerful reminder that this system is sending us a warning.”

In the photograph, Whitehouse, right, stands on the edge of the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier, part of Greenland’s Ilulissat ice fjord, according to a news release from his office. The Ilulissat ice fjord is on Greenland’s west coast and the Sermeq Kujalleq glacier is among the world’s fastest-moving. To the left, with her back to the camera, is Sandra Whitehouse, the senator’s wife, who traveled as part of the official, taxpayer-financed delegation. She is a professional environmental consultant.

Posted by Pam Cotter  at 11:22 AM | Permalink

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