The Republican Party has moved further on climate than it may look from the top of the ticket. Donald Trump says that climate change is a “hoax,” and he jokes that sea level rise will give us more beachfront property. Other Republicans know that the joke wouldn’t go over so well in western North Carolina or in Florida right now.
Some Republicans, such as U.S. Rep. John Curtis, R-Utah, are stepping up to lead to solutions. Curtis started the Conservative Climate Caucus, which now has 85 members, making it one of the largest caucuses in the House. At his third annual Conservative Climate Summit, held recently at Utah Valley University, Curtis urged Republicans to embrace “clean” and to let go of the fear of saying “climate.” It’s a testament to his leadership that all five of the conservative Republicans vying in 2024 to replace him in the U.S. House said that they would join the Conservative Climate Caucus.
Contrast that with 2010 in South Carolina — another pretty conservative place. At a debate with my primary opponents that year, all four of them rejected action on climate. One said that my support of a revenue-neutral, border-adjustable carbon tax (cut payroll taxes; tax carbon pollution instead; apply the tax to imports) was another way that his Christian brother Bob had “gone astray,” making mine a religious heresy as well as a political heresy. Another said that if climate change were real, it would be the most important issue facing us, but he said he just didn’t believe it was real. The one who beat me in that primary chose “followship” over leadership, saying, “Global warming has not been proven to the satisfaction of the constituents that I seek to serve.”
Curtis’s success with the Conservative Climate Caucus proves that times have changed. If Donald Trump loses next month, there’s a real chance of a further Republican rethink on climate. If he wins, the rethink may continue quietly until he’s a lame duck two years into his terminal term. It’s clear, though, that a rethink is gaining momentum.
Utah is in a unique position to lead that rethink. It’s a state rich in innovation and rich in fossil fuels. That means that Utah is likely to produce a balanced approach to solving climate change.
Recent results in Utah’s two-track nomination process reflect that balance. Extreme elements may have temporarily won the day with caucus endorsements, but practical, problem-solving candidates have ultimately prevailed in the broader, primary contests. The result is a Utah tone that’s uniquely different from that in other states.
In my travels in Utah on behalf of republicEn.org, I’ve heard the unique tone. I remember starting one trip in Vernal, where a business owner told me that everything that he has is invested in Vernal. If the petroleum revenue were to go away, he told me, the town would dry up, and he would be left with nothing. The next day I told his story to a group of influential folks in Salt Lake City. To my surprise, everyone in that room expressed concern for the businessman in Vernal. No one wanted to leave Vernal behind. Have that same kind of conversation in Manhattan about Albany, New York, or in the Upstate of South Carolina about the state’s Lowcountry and see if you get the same results!
The explanation I’ve heard from a number of Utahns about the unique Utah tone goes like this: Utah is a pioneering place. The terrain is as treacherous as it is gorgeous. Pioneering back when or prospering now, Utahns need the help of friends and neighbors. Furthermore, religious observance and the interconnectedness of extended families seems to create some societal cohesion. That’s especially important in a place that needs energy innovation to clear winter inversions and a bit of cooling (among other things) to save the Great Salt Lake.
Those needs and the unique Utah tone can make the state pivotal to solving climate change. The tone almost surely originates in the heart, for “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks.” Perhaps that’s why Rep. Curtis observed at his summit, “You will change hearts and minds with feelings, not science.”
Former U.S. Rep. Bob Inglis (R-SC4 1993-1999; 2005-2011) directs republicEn.org, a growing group of conservatives who care about climate change.