Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island used a Senate floor address on Wednesday to deliver his 300th "Time to Wake Up" speech urging action on climate change. The Democrat has spoken regularly on the issue since 2012, framing the growing number of speeches as a measure of inaction by lawmakers and industry. Whitehouse’s milestone comes less than a week after Congress voted to roll back a package of clean-energy incentives enacted during the previous session, a setback that climate advocates say will slow investment in renewable power and efficiency projects. Public urgency around the issue also appears to be slipping. A recent national poll found that 46% of U.S. adults regard climate change as a serious threat, down from 56% in 2021. Among respondents aged 18 to 34, perceived seriousness has fallen 17 percentage points since a 2018 peak to 50%. A separate CNN survey reported that only 40% of Americans are greatly worried about climate change—virtually unchanged from 2000—while the share who fear becoming a natural-disaster victim fell to 32%, its lowest level since 2006.