For Republican Congressman John Curtis, his climate journey started at the dinner table.
"I started having meetings in my home and would invite some of the most far-right people in my state [of Utah]," he said. "I'd feed them dinner and start talking about climate. I would challenge them to go home, go into the bathroom, look into the mirror, and say the word 'climate.'"
At the third annual Conservative Climate Summit, Curtis gathered hundreds of conservatives to share his personal journey and a rallying cry: "As Republicans, let's let go of that fear [of climate] and embrace clean."
"Today we gather under the flag of conservatives to have a frank conversation about what role we have in time to address this issue," he said. "No debate about science, no shaming for driving a truck, no insisting that we destroy industry, but a thoughtful discussion."
"'It's a hoax' is not a thoughtful conversation [about climate change]. It's just not," Curtis added.
Curtis boasted that the Conservative Climate Caucus, aka the "CCC" — whose key tenets are that climate change exists and that humans have contributed to that change — now has 85 members. "That's 80 more than my staff told me would join," he joked. Curtis also remarked that he survived the Republican primary for Mitt Romney's Senate seat in Utah against five challengers, "knowing that everyone knows I talk about climate."
While Curtis has been vocal on climate action and founded the CCC, Grist reported during the primary campaign that some climate activists still felt his perspective "is too reliant on industry-friendly solutions" such as carbon capture.
Curtis also "vehemently" opposed the climate-focused Inflation Reduction Act, noting reservations that its incentives for specific products and caps on drug prices would "pick winners and losers" and stifle innovation and marketplace competition.
Still, Curtis remains far from Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump's statement calling climate change a hoax, and he has championed bipartisan legislation to boost geothermal energy and protect the Great Salt Lake. He's also lived those values in his own home with eco-friendly renovations that he says save him $400 a month.
Curtis reminded the room that a Republican president created the Environmental Protection Agency and the Clean Air Act: Richard Nixon.
"My far-right-leaning friends need to give in and relax. ... If we're not at the climate table, we have no influence in policy," he said bluntly. "You have to keep going into that bathroom and say, 'climate, climate, climate.'"
This year's agenda for the summit reflected some of the tensions within the Republican Party — and the complicated nature of climate solutions.
A key focus was shifting the narrative from "climate policy" to "energy policy," with conservative leaders touting an "all-in energy approach" to meet growing energy demands resulting from increased electrification and data use tied to AI. (Demand for power could more than double by 2030, according to a study by the Electric Power Research Institute.)
"Here's our reality: There is no difference between the U.S. energy policy and the U.S. climate policy," Curtis said, citing recent conversations with leaders in his state asking for 10 gigawatts of energy to power one AI center. "We are going to need every form of energy to be wildly successful at affordability, reliability, and clean."
"The challenge will be how to meet the surge in demand with affordability and reliability while simultaneously decarbonizing," former director of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Neil Chatterjee said in a discussion about permitting.
Victoria Coates of the Heritage Foundation (authors of the Project 2025 report) was given a voice at the event, where she criticized "regulations that are eating us alive," and reinforced her desire to move the U.S. Department of Energy to Houston, Texas.
At the same time, renowned climate scientist Dr. Katharine Hayhoe closed the event with a lengthy talk called "Why climate change is conservative." She reminded the crowd that while fossil fuels gave us the Industrial Revolution and many of the comforts we rely on, it's an energy choice that is "producing the heat-trapping gases that are releasing into the atmosphere, affecting the grid and causing extreme weather."
Hot topics of breakout panels included simplifying and improving the permitting process for clean energy projects, nuclear energy, and the promise of regenerative agriculture.
Tim Stewart, president of the U.S. Oil and Gas Association, sat alongside renewables leader Luigi Resta, founder of rPlus Energies, on one panel to debate whether we're in an energy transition or an energy expansion (the conclusion: both).
Curtis says he sees promise in bipartisan collaboration. "I believe that anything that happens in Washington of any consequence happens when both parties can agree," he said. "We're starting to see how the left and right can come together and agree upon things," calling out innovative new technologies such as hydrogen, fusion, and even some consensus on nuclear energy.
At the same time, he called out the elephant in the room head-on: "Where do we disagree? Let's be honest, fossil fuels. They've got to be clean if they're part of our future. If that's our only difference, do you think we can figure that out?" he argued, "What's at stake? Of course, the consequences of climate change, but also what's in the balance is the U.S. in being a leader in energy policy around the world. This transition is going to happen, and we have to decide if we want it to come from the U.S. or from China or other parts of the world. The second piece is, there's money to be made. So are you in, as a capitalist Republican?"
Curtis said he believes "the market is demanding clean" — and he offered a crystal ball for 2050.
"Here's my prediction: In 2050, on the 25th anniversary of the CCC Summit, here's what you are going to see," he began. "We will be using fuel that is affordable, reliable, and clean. The fuel types that make that possible will win. It just will be so because of the market."
What he promised his colleagues in the room was an opportunity. "If I could show you an energy future that kept prices low and affordable, that kept energy reliable, that made us not just energy independent but energy dominant, and was clean, are you good with that?"
As Hayhoe pointed out during the event, despite research showing that most Americans are concerned or alarmed about climate change, few are talking about it at the dinner table — like Curtis.
"You will change hearts and minds with feelings, not science," Curtis said. "We all want to leave the planet better than we found it. We all agree less pollution is better than more."
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