An assignment I give my college students is to look up “conservatives for the environment” and report back on what they find. This year I decided to do the assignment myself. What I found is an astonishing story.
It starts in Utah’s House District 3. The district includes Salt Lake City and a large region to the east and south of it. It is solidly Republican, 55% Mormon, and one of the youngest districts in the country with a median age of 28.7 years.
With this profile, you wouldn’t think District 3 is important to national climate policy. But it is. Mostly because of John Curtis, who represents District 3 in Congress.
When Curtis ran for office and met with voters he faced a persistent question: “How would he address the climate crisis?”
The standard Republican answer to that question was: “The climate crisis is a hoax” or “The climate is changing due to natural cycles. Human activity is not the cause.”
Neither of these answers satisfied the voters in District 3.
So Curtis decided to look into it. He talked to people. He researched. He engaged in conversations with people from the far left to the far right.
He found that many House Republicans were facing the same voter questions. With obvious changes in the weather and continuous pressure from activists there was a need for better answers. But Republicans had little to offer.
So Curtis created a climate platform that fits with conservative values. After all he says, “The environment has always been a Republican issue.” Here he’s referring to the national parks created by Roosevelt in the early 1900s, and the major environmental laws signed by Nixon in the 1970s.
In Curtis’ view, denying the climate crisis is too extreme. So is shutting down our fossil fuel based economy all at once.
So he reframed the issue to focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions. In his view, this is the problem to be solved. So it should be the goal of conservative climate policy.
Curtis cites three guiding principles that climate policy solutions must meet: they must be affordable, they must be reliable, and they must be clean. If these criteria are met, then a policy is worthy of Republican support.
In putting this framework together, Curtis created a path for Republicans to talk about and consider climate policy without appearing to “sell out” to Democrats.
Reframing is a way of owning the agenda and taking the lead on an issue. It’s a classic move in public policy development. And it was a stroke of brilliance on Curtis’ part.
With his framework in place, Curtis was then able to create the Conservative Climate Caucus (CCC). It launched in 2021 with 52 members.
Now the Caucus has over 80 members, making it the second largest in the House. New leadership was announced in January, assuring succession and longevity.
Curtis’ work is good progress. But you may ask, has the Caucus actually done anything? Or is it just a talking shop to make it appear that they are listening to voters?
Like most caucuses, the CCC is mostly focused on education. But it did send a delegation to the COP 28 climate negotiations in Dubai last fall. Critics called this a “sell out”. But Caucus members said they wanted a seat at the table. For the first time Republican politicians outnumbered Democrats at the negotiations.
Curtis and the CCC also supported the Lower Energy Costs Act which reduces greenhouse gas emissions and supports clean energy technologies and energy efficiency. The bill is a mixed bag of permitting, leasing and oversight changes—not all of which are supported by environmentalists on the left.
But its passage in the House illustrates the power of the CCC. It passed with bi-partisan support in March 2023.
The Lower Energy Costs Act illustrates an important function of the Caucus: it provides cover and support to Republicans who initiate and support climate policies. Republicans now have a way to talk about climate, weigh in on proposals, and propose solutions. True progress indeed.
Perhaps Curtis had this in mind when he founded the caucus. I say this because he’s become an initiator of environmental legislation. Some of his bills include streamlining geothermal development, and protecting and conserving public lands.
The Caucus is truly a breakthrough—for two reasons. First, it’s proof that environmental activism makes a difference. Without the persistent pressure of climate activists in Utah and elsewhere, the Caucus would never have been born. Citizen voices matter.
Second, the Caucus opens the door that was once shut tight by climate denial. Coming together with Democrats and finding bi-partisan support for climate policy was once thought impossible. But now the door has cracked open.
It will take more work and discussion before far reaching climate legislation can be enacted. But with the Conservative Climate Caucus in place, we are much closer than we were just a few years ago. Stay tuned!
For MORE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t784FVVAE4