One of the US Senate's leading climate advocates says President Donald Trump's administration no longer governs -- it "occupies" the nation on behalf of Big Oil.

In an interview, Democratic Senator Sheldon Whitehouse of Rhode Island blamed the sweeping rollback of environmental protections on a flood of unlimited, anonymous corporate political spending, and said exposing the scale of this "fraud" is key to breaking its grip.

His remarks came as the death toll from catastrophic flooding in Texas linked by scientists to climate change threatened to surge further.

"This isn't even government any longer," the 69-year-old told a small group of reporters ahead of an address to Congress Wednesday -- his 300th so-called "Time to Wake Up" speech, delivered as activists reel from Trump's actions.

"This is an occupying force from the fossil fuel industry that has injected itself into the key positions of responsibility," said the lawmaker.

"It has the appearance of being government -- they ride around in the black cars... they have the offices, they have the titles," he said. But in reality, "they're fossil fuel........

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