#kapwing auto-generated subtitles/transcript

[contemplatingoutlander]

DARK MONEY PART II: Sheldon Whitehouse SLAMS Ted Cruz's conspiracy theory linking dark money from China to climate lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry

According to Just the News, this is Ted Cruz's latest conspiracy theory:

“We're witnessing right now a systematic campaign against American energy [i.e., the fossil fuel industry*]. There is a coordinated assault by the radical left, backed and paid for by the Chinese Communist Party, to seize control of our courts, to weaponize litigation against US energy producers — all in order to undermine American energy dominance,” Cruz said in his opening statement. [emphasis added] Cruz [claimed] that foreign money tied to the Chinese Communist Party bankrolls climate advocacy groups, who file lawsuits against fossil fuel projects.... designed to bankrupt energy producers, Cruz said, and activist groups providing training to judges involved in climate litigation “indoctrinate” those judges in favor of the plaintiffs in these cases. [emphasis added]

Given Cruz's claims that lawsuits against the fossil fuel industry by climate advocacy groups are a Chinese Communist plot, this was Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse's (D-RI) response:

Sen. Whitehouse Enlightens Sen. Cruz in Hearing on Latest GOP Conspiracy Theory | Senator Sheldon Whitehouse | June 25, 2025 } YouTube

In the above video, Whitehouse claims that Cruz's conspiracy theory is a "fossil fuel-funded GOP fever dream." Whitehouse reiterates that climate change is real and the enormous costs that are stacking up because of fossil fuel-driven climate change need to be paid by someone. He prefers the fossil fuel industry rather than taxpayers:

One emblem of climate change's costs to governments is the proposed Ike Dike in coastal Texas, estimated to cost nearly $60 billion.... Governments faced with costs like that have a dilemma. Who do you get the money from? Taxpayers? You want to go to taxpayers, adding another hit on top of their spiraling insurance premiums and declining home values? Or do you want to look at the responsible party, the fossil fuel industry. To put this into scale, Exxon's profits in the last quarter of last year were $900 million per day. If they had to pay a billion dollar judgment, they'd be over it by 6 a.m. the next day.

Whitehouse describes other ways that taxpayers are hit by climate change, including damage to "essential infrastructure" and "climateflation" seen in rising "grocery prices," and "electricity costs."

But most notably, Whitehouse worries about the impact of climate change on the insurance industry.

And then there's insurance. This is the big one. Not just because of the added costs for consumers, but because of the risk that an insurance crisis triggers a deep and lasting recession.

Whitehouse particularly notes the danger of insurance companies refusing to renew homeowners insurance in certain parts of the country.

We found that nonrenewals are spiking around the country. Up 278% in Florida, 267% in Louisiana, 944% in Chambers County, Texas. Where insurance becomes unavailable, it becomes impossible to get a mortgage. No insurance, no mortgage. Without the ability to get a mortgage, property values crash.

Whitehouse believes the fossil fuel industry should be the ones to pay because they knew climate change was real "for more than 60 years," but nevertheless "lied" about it, "denied the science," "obstructed climate action," and "constructed the most complex and mischievous armada of phony front groups that America has ever seen, in order to do so." Whitehouse implies that it is the fossil fuel industry's dark money that is fueling Cruz's conspiracy theory.

Finally, Whitehouse claims:

The suits that are at issue in this hearing are brought under a variety of traditional state law, tort, public nuisance, and fraud claims. At their heart, they're about who should pay for the climate damages bearing down on folks around the country. [color emphasis added]

[edited]

__________________________ * Whitehouse said: "By the way, every time somebody on that side of the aisle says the word 'energy' in this hearing, what they really mean is 'fossil fuel.'" Note: The video above is a modified, slightly faster, shortened version of the one on YouTube, with auto-generated subtitles by Kapwing that were edited for accuracy.

[Under the cut is a transcript of the original video on YouTube, including the parts that were omitted in the above video.]

COMPLETE TRANSCRIPT OF SEN. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE'S JUNE 25, 2025 YOUTUBE VIDEO

NOTE: The parts of the transcript in blue type were cut out of this post's video in order to keep it under 10 minutes for Tumblr. All emphasis is Sen. Whitehouse's based on judgments made by this writer.

Thank you, Chairman. This hearing is a perfect display of projection. Blaming your adversary for what you are doing. Dark money? Judicial capture? Propaganda? Oh my. The fossil fuel industry would have nothing to do with those things.

The hearing ignores that the fossil fuel industry has for decades benefited from secret funding to wage war on the American consumer by making energy more expensive and dirtier. Higher utility bills. Worse pollution. Let's examine the facts.

First, money. The fossil fuel industry has spent 10 times more on lobbying than environmental groups and the renewable energy industry combined. That's not even counting fossil fuel elections spending. Republican and fossil fuel interests pushed for the "Citizens United" decision allowing unlimited election spending by special interests.

Second, dark money. My "Disclose Act" would require transparency in election spending. We voted on it a half a dozen times. Every time, every Republican voted against it.

Third, energy. Renewable energy is now the cheapest form of energy on the planet. The wind, our sunshine, flowing water, and the earth's own heat are all free and essentially unlimited fuel sources. Their price, again zero, does not depend on geopolitical events or international industry cartels beyond our control.

As Republicans hold this hearing today, oil and gas gasoline prices have climbed in response to strife in the Middle East. As Republicans hold this hearing today, tens of millions of Americans swelter through a punishing heat wave made both more likely and more intense by climate change caused by fossil fuel emissions.

So, let's talk about climate change. By damaging Earth's natural systems, climate change costs Americans money. Lots of money. I suspect that Americans would be more interested in tackling climateflation than in unspooling yet another conspiracy theory from the fossil fuel-funded, fertile swamp of Republican fever dreams.

Climate change is raising grocery prices. Coffee, chocolate, sugar, and orange juice are just a few of the staples whose prices have spiked in response to floods, droughts, and heat waves made worse by climate change.

Climate change is raising electricity costs. Heat waves, hurricanes, wildfires, droughts, and floods raise generation and distribution costs, raising Americans utility bills. Heat waves force people to consume more electricity. Air conditioners are running all around Washington today, further raising consumers electricity bills.

And then there's insurance. This is the big one. Not just because of the added costs for consumers, but because of the risk that an insurance crisis triggers a deep and lasting recession.

Increasingly frequent and severe wildfires and storms are making property insurance both unaffordable and unavailable in many places. Texas had the fourth highest average homeowners’ premiums in the country last year at around $6,000. This year they're projected to increase by another $500.

In Louisiana, premiums averaged almost $11,000 last year. In Florida, they were over $14,00, and those are projected to get far worse. That's when you can find a company to write coverage.

Last year, as chair of the Budget Committee, I investigated how climate change was driving nonrenewals, where your insurance company fires you after you've been a loyal customer for many years, because they can't afford the risk of your property.

We found that nonrenewals are spiking around the country. Up 278% in Florida, 267% in Louisiana, 944% in Chambers County, Texas.

Where insurance becomes unavailable, it becomes impossible to get a mortgage. No insurance, no mortgage.

Without the ability to get a mortgage, property values crash. Unless, of course, you're billionaires swapping mansions back and forth with your excess income.

Rising insurance premiums on their own also cause home values to decline. And a wide scale crash in coastal and wildfire prone home values is likely to trigger a larger economic meltdown like we saw in 2008.

I'm not the only one saying this. An "Economist" cover story last year predicted a $25 trillion hit to the global real estate market, the world's largest asset class.

Earlier this year, Fed Chair Powell told the Senate Banking Committee that in 10 to 15 years it will be impossible to get insurance or a mortgage in entire regions of the country.

It's already hitting home. I'll share a few articles for the record from the "Houston Chronicle": “Inside the costly new reality of insuring a home in Texas.” “Map: See where extreme weather is pushing up home insurance costs in Texas and the U.S.” "Houston Chronicle," again. “Texas has a home insurance crisis. These four charts show how it's getting worse.” “How much is your Texas home worth? If you pay a lot in insurance, less than you might think.”

Wouldn't it be great if colleagues on both sides of the aisle would focus on this, the real danger? Rather than attempting to project fossil fuel dark money mischief onto the organizations and elected governments that are trying to protect Americans from climate change.

Climate change is going to impose immense costs on state and local governments. That is indisputable. Sea level rise and other climate related phenomena are already damaging roads, bridges, ports, water treatment plants, and other essential infrastructure. And it will just get worse.

One emblem of climate change's costs to governments is the proposed Ike Dike in coastal Texas, estimated to cost nearly $60 billion. Who's going to pay for that? Governments faced with costs like that have a dilemma. Who do you get the money from?

Taxpayers? You want to go to taxpayers, adding another hit on top of their spiraling insurance premiums and declining home values? Or do you want to look at the responsible party, the fossil fuel industry,

To put this into scale, Exxon's profits in the last quarter of last year were $900 million per day. If they had to pay a billion dollar judgment, they'd be over it by 6 a.m. the next day.

And the oil and gas industry has known about this problem for more than 60 years. For three decades, they hired their own climate scientists and did their own research, and their own scientists confirmed that combusting fossil fuels would heat the planet with disastrous consequences for Earth's natural systems, i.e., for all of us.

And then, armed with that knowledge, they lied. They denied the science. They obstructed climate action. They constructed the most complex and mischievous armada of phony front groups that America has ever seen, in order to do so.

The suits that are at issue in this hearing are brought under a variety of traditional state law, tort, public nuisance, and fraud claims.

At their heart, they're about who should pay for the climate damages bearing down on folks around the country.

We Democrats believe that the responsible party, the polluter, the fossil fuel industry, should pay. So does Milton Friedman, by the way. It's Econ 101 that pollution, a negative externality, should be baked into the cost of the product.

Republicans, on the other hand, believe that American families should pay to protect the free-to-pollute business model of their favored fossil fuel industry.

By the way, every time somebody on that side of the aisle says the word “energy” in this hearing, what they really mean is “fossil fuel.” Every time they say the word “energy dominance” in this hearing, what they really mean is “fossil fuel dominance.”

It's gotten so bad that the Trump administration actually wrote wind energy and solar energy, which are extremely prevalent and successful in Texas, out of their own definition of “energy.” They're not just violating economic principles; they're violating the dictionary.

That's where we're at. Well, I'm willing to bet that the American people are with us on this one. Thank you, Chairman.

_______________ The transcript is based on auto-generated subtitles by Kapwing that were edited for accuracy.

[wiseworlds]

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[damonmin-blog]

Best Free Tools to Auto Subtitle Video in 2019

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Kapwing

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[contemplatingoutlander]

DARK MONEY PART I: Sheldon Whitehouse Slams Ted Cruz About Dark Money

CALL TO ACTIVISM: Holy shit. After getting humiliated by Tucker Carlson, Ted Cruz just got walloped again by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. This is glorious.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) is one of my heroes. He is forever on the trail of dark money. In "The Scheme," he brilliantly described the trail of dark money channeled through The Federalist Society in order to stack the judiciary, including the Supreme Court, with far-right ideologues that would, over time, move the US towards oligarchy/plutocracy.

And now in the above video, we see him slam Ted Cruz about both political parties and dark money in campaign finance.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

TED CRUZ: My Democrat colleagues never seem concerned by that massive money on the left, which is considerably larger than the money that is supporting Republicans. SHELDON WHITEHOUSE: Again, since you are speaking about me, that's also not true. I am the actual lead sponsor of an act that would end dark money. And it wouldn't end it, just on your side, it would end it for everyone. Everyone would know who is funding people's campaigns. And every Democrat votes for that bill to get rid of dark money, and every Republican votes against that bill to protect dark money, largely because the fossil fuel industry's dark money is the lifeblood of the Republican political operation, and you don't want to see that exposed.

__________ The video was modified from its original source using, including adding auto-generated subtitles provided by Kapwing. Credit to @ladytuarach whose earlier post inspired this one.