A group of nearly 40 House Republicans is launching a Conservative Climate Caucus on Wednesday.
The initiative, led by Rep. John Curtis of Utah, marks the first time that Republicans have organized a group explicitly to address climate change.
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Members include Reps. Garret Graves of Louisiana, Cathy McMorris Rodgers of Washington, Bruce Westerman of Arkansas, Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, Michael McCaul of Texas, Lee Zeldin of New York, Nancy Mace of South Carolina, and more.
An existing bicameral Republican Roosevelt Conservation Caucus lists public land access, water quality, and ocean pollution among its priorities and is focused more on enhancing the environmental profile of the GOP.
The new climate caucus, however, aims to go beyond messaging and “educate House Republicans on climate policies and legislation consistent with conservative values,” according to a one-page summary shared by Curtis’s office.
Members of the group acknowledge “the climate is changing” and that human industrial activity has contributed to global warming, the summary reads.
Its creation comes after Curtis organized a summit in February attended by 25 House Republicans, reported exclusively by the Washington Examiner, in which members discussed how to position themselves to address climate change in the Democratic-controlled Congress.
Congressional Republicans have sought to overhaul their party’s climate change platform and messaging to compete with Democrats and the Biden administration. House Republicans are also responding to polls over the last few years that have shown the party is vulnerable among young and suburban voters who are concerned about the environment and climate change.
Curtis is among the Republicans who worked with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy last year to introduce an agenda to address climate change that was focused on promoting innovation in clean energy technologies, including carbon capture for fossil fuel plants and smaller nuclear reactors.
In April, McCarthy organized a three-day House Republican forum to present their legislative ideas on addressing climate change and counter a climate summit event that President Joe Biden hosted on Earth Day with top greenhouse-gas-emitting countries.
Republicans on the new conservative caucus say they intend to contrast their proposals with “radical progressive” climate policies, such as pricing carbon or mandating clean electricity use.
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Democratic critics, however, say the Republican approach of promoting clean energy in private sector innovation falls short of what’s needed to avoid the worst consequences of climate change.
Caucus Republicans say fossil fuels, the main contributor to climate change, “can and should be a major part of the global solution,” as long as “innovative technologies” are used to capture or limit their emissions.
