PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Nearly every week when Congress is in session, Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse has stood on the Senate floor to deliver a speech on the dangers of climate change.
If Congress doesn't act quickly, Whitehouse warns, global warming will lead to more air pollution, rising oceans, disease-carrying ticks and mosquitoes, Sandy-like storms and a wave of floods, heat waves, wildfires and droughts.
Whitehouse, a Democrat, says global warming is the top issue facing the country today, ahead of the economy, gun control and health care.
Environmental groups have praised him, conservative critics have excoriated him.
Whitehouse says he will continue his efforts until something is done.
"When it comes to this particular threat ... Congress is asleep, and it's time for us to wake up," he says.