Utah’s new U.S. Senator is a rare Republican who is outspoken on climate change.
Despite a policy stance that does not fit into stereotypical Republican orthodoxy, Rep. John Curtis cruised to victory in this summer’s GOP primary and followed that up with a resounding win on Election Day.
But will his moderate policies get lost with a slim GOP majority and Donald Trump back in the White House?
Curtis told attendees at his Oct. 4 Conservative Climate Summit that conservatives have an important voice to add to the climate conversation because, as he sees it, “there is no difference between the U.S. energy policy and the U.S. climate policy.”
“If you want to engage on energy policy, you have to engage on climate policy, otherwise you’re not at the table.”
Curtis founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021 as a way to get more Republicans at that table. Since then, it has grown to 85 members in the House. Its mission is not just acknowledging that the climate is changing and caused by humans, it also advocates for policies that balance emission reductions with current low-cost energy sources, including fossil fuels.
“I think anybody that’s had a chance to hear me talk about climate understands that I do it from a very conservative perspective, so much so that the left would say ‘you’re not serious about it,’” Curtis told reporters after an Oct. 10 candidate debate.
“I believe that there is a solution for energy needs that’s affordable, reliable and clean, doesn’t leave us dependent on another country for fuel and is right in harmony with conservative values.”
University of Utah political science professor James Curry thinks Curtis’ message could get even more traction in the Senate, which historically has been the more moderate of the two chambers.
“He’s going to have a much bigger platform,” he said. “He’s going to find that also he’s going to have Republican colleagues in the Senate who are probably more open to getting creative and doing things on climate change.”
Still, Curtis faced strong opposition on the climate from both his political left and right during the senate campaign.
Democrat Caroline Gleich called the caucus a “fossil fuel funded delay and distortion tactic” while more conservative candidate Carlton Bowen questioned why Curtis was spending so much time focusing on an “issue of the left.”
Shawn Teigen, president of The Utah Foundation, a nonpartisan policy think tank, thinks Curtis and other politicians who hope to make progress on climate could face a pretty strong headwind. Why? Because advocating for policy change can be hard when “we ultimately don’t really want to change our behaviors.”
Any action, big or small, he said, can be seen as not worth the effort.
“Maybe I’ll let my grass go brown, but I’m not going to drive less. I don’t want to fly less,” he said. “Why should we do anything if China’s not going to do just as much? Because they’re currently the big emitter of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Despite optimism from some political observers, another obstacle that could stand in the way of the widespread adoption of Curtis’ way of thinking is the political winds blowing within the Republican Party. The word “climate” is not mentioned in the 2024 RNC platform, while “make America the dominant energy producer in the world” and “cancel the electric vehicle mandate and cut costly and burdensome regulations” appear as priorities.
Most climate advocates see those as incompatible with a future of fewer emissions and lower global temperatures.