Conservative Climate Summit debates toning down hoax claims and litmus tests

The demonization of both the word climate on one of the political spectrum and fossil fuels on the other were front and center of the Conservative Climate Summit.

After showing pictures of sunsets on the southeastern portion of the state with double rainbows and different orange hues, Utah Republican Rep. John Curtis, who hosted the event on Friday, reflected on the branding Republicans often get in the climate conversation — caring little about the Earth.

“Today we gather under the flag of conservatives to have a framed discussion about what role in time we have being good stewards over this Earth. And it’s that simple, no judgment, no debate about science, no shaming for driving a truck, no insisting that we destroy industry or our energy base,” Curtis said. “But rather a thoughtful discussion about making the most of what God has given us.”

Curtis’ work around climate change has drawn national attention. He founded the Conservative Climate Caucus in the House, which has 85 members and a potential future after his departure from Congress this year. And, he said, he hosts meetings at his home in which he invites “50 or 60 of the most far right-leaning people (he) could find in the state” to talk about climate.

“I personally believe the climate is changing, and that man has an influence on it. But I don’t use that as a litmus test. How did I get 85 people to join the Conservative Climate Caucus? It wasn’t with a litmus test,” he said. “If you take people where they are, you will find they feel comfortable talking about this.”

People don’t have to give up their conservative credentials to be good at this conversation, Curtis said. And while those on the left should stop demonizing coal in order to open space for debate, far right-leaning people also need to give in a little, he said, because if they’re not at the climate table, they have zero influence on policy.

“‘It’s a hoax’ is not a thoughtful conversation,” Curtis said.

Also, in Curtis’ view, while clean energy is important, so is its affordability and reliability. Resources that check all of those boxes are what the market is demanding, and what he believes will dominate in a future that’s in need of more energy with new industries such as artificial intelligence and data centers.

His colleagues from the U.S. House, Republican Reps. Celeste Maloy and Blake Moore, joined him in a panel where they shared similar views to Curtis’.

“If conservatives just stay out of the conversation, it’s not going to be balanced,” Maloy said, commending initiatives to breach the gap between the two major parties. “And what it’s going to take for all of us to survive on this planet is innovation.”

Moore recognized some points of common ground between Democrats and Republicans. He, for example, voted against the establishment of the Inflation Reduction Act, but he sees positive aspects of it, like the tax incentive for nuclear facilities.

“We should be somewhat focused on reducing deficits, which we need to be doing. But there will be energy decisions to be made (to make a 50-year energy plan),” Moore said.

What’s at stake in the transformation of the energy market, Curtis said, is the country’s position as a world leader in energy.

“This innovation is going to happen. We have to decide if we want it to come from the United States or if we’re OK with it coming from China or other places in the world,” Curtis said.

Project 2025 criticism

One of the speakers on Friday was Victoria Coates, a former deputy national security adviser to former President Donald Trump and vice president of a national security institute at the Heritage Foundation, which created Project 2025, a policy agenda for a new conservative president.

“I proudly participated in the mandate for leadership on Project 2025, on the energy panel, so writing that chapter, which I strongly recommend to you,” Coates said on Friday about the plan to reconfigure the Department of Energy, making significant office cuts. “It is merely common-sense policies that I think would make a stronger America. And no, we are not attempting to subvert the Republic.”

Democratic candidate Caroline Gleich, who is challenging Curtis in the U.S. Senate race, said in a statement that the summit featuring oil and gas industry officials and Coates “is nothing more than a distraction orchestrated by the fossil fuel industry to delay, distract and hide their destructive impact on our health and climate.”

“Utah doesn’t need more empty talk; we need leadership that delivers. While in Congress, Rep. Curtis voted against environmental protections time and time again,” Gleich wrote, “earning a worse environmental voting record than even Senator Mike Lee.”

Curtis defended the invitation, arguing that oil executives and conservative think tanks have “moved on” while politicians were behind, feeling like they had to defend fossil fuels.

“When Heritage came to my office four years ago, sat on my couch,” Curtis said, “I asked them if climate was changing and man was influencing it. And they said, ‘yes.’”

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