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Sen. John Hickenlooper Climbs To New Heights To Address Climate Change

GOLDEN, Colo. (CBS4)- Sen. John Hickenlooper is no stranger to heights- remember when he jumped out of a plane during his campaign for governor of Colorado? The junior senator representing Colorado hooked up with professional climber Tommy Caldwell to go climbing in Clear Creek Canyon.

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Caldwell is a Colorado native and lives in Estes Park. He is famous for discovering difficult climbing routes.

Hickenlooper, a Democrat, said he is making the climb to illustrate his call to take climate action to new heights.

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Caldwell hopes climate is a priority in the upcoming infrastructure and reconciliation bills.

"We want to get climate initiatives to be as big a part of these funding bills as possible," said Caldwell. "I've seen a lot of change in all honestly. I'm up in the glaciated regions of Rocky Mountain National Park, probably the first signs I saw were the glaciers receding, but more recently- fires. I have been evacuated from my home in Estes Park three times because of forest fires."

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Hickenlooper said he and Caldwell drove to the climbing site in an electric vehicle.

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