U.S. Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) reported that while on the Senate Floor on Tuesday, “preparing to ask my colleagues if we can all agree on this one, simple truth: our oceans are warming,” MAGA-aligned U.S. Senator Ron Johnson (R-WI) “objected.”
.@SenRonJohnson objected. https://t.co/Dd5EsF21cP
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) May 12, 2026
As seen and heard in the video below, Johnson replied to Whitehouse: “The simple truth is, yeah, climate has always changed, always will. And I would argue the simple truth is there’s not much we can do about it.”
Today’s simple truth: our oceans are warming.
We should all be able to agree on that. pic.twitter.com/Albm8pYBUI
— Sheldon Whitehouse (@SenWhitehouse) May 13, 2026
[NOTE: NASA and NOAA data reveal that the Earth’s oceans are getting warmer, that they have absorbed approximately “90% of excess planetary heat since the 1950s, with ocean heat content hitting new records through 2025 (up ~23 zettajoules from 2024 alone).”]
Meteorologist Chris Gloninger responded to Whitehouse’s report about Johnson: “You can’t fix stupid…”
You can’t fix stupid… pic.twitter.com/xzJ8VElPNz
— Chris Gloninger, CCM, CBM (@ChrisGloninger) May 12, 2026
Other critics on X noted that prior to entering politics in 2010, Johnson was CEO of the plastics manufacturing company Pacur LLC in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and remained CEO when the company was sold to Bowater Industries for $18 million in 1987.
When Johnson eventually left the company, he received a compensation package of $10 million and reportedly used $9 million of it for his 2010 campaign, during which he called the understanding that climate change is man-made “lunacy” and said it is “not proven by any stretch of the imagination.”