OREM, Utah — On an October day when Salt Lake City hit 90 degrees for the first time in its history, Congressman John Curtis was talking to his fellow conservatives about climate change.
"Today we gather under the flag of conservatives to have a frank discussion about what role we have about being good stewards," he told the crowd. "No judgment, no debate about science, no shaming about driving a truck. A thoughtful discussion about making the most of what God gives us."
Curtis is one of the leaders of the Conservative Climate Caucus in the U.S. Congress. He acknowledges climate change and that humans have a part in it. Polling shows a majority of Americans acknowledge climate change as well. A Yale Program on Climate Change Communication and Utah State University survey found 68% of Utahns surveyed believed that global warming is happening.
"Snow, forest fires, the Great Salt Lake, drought," he told FOX 13 News when asked about the impacts of climate change. "This is not hard for Utahns to see."
But Curtis believes the way people are talking about climate change is leading to political divisions. He wants to reframe the conversation in a way that "brings people together."
"Do you want to leave the earth better than you found it? And is less pollution better than more pollution? Great," he said Friday. "Now what do we do about it? As I pointed out in there, vast areas of agreement. Far more than disagreement. But we don’t get to talk about those if we set the litmus test."
Curtis, who is the Republican candidate in the race for Utah's open U.S. Senate seat to succeed retiring Sen. Mitt Romney, supports a diverse energy portfolio. He told reporters on Friday he believes that fossil fuels will still be utilized in 2050 — but burning much cleaner. He supports nuclear power and renewable sources. In Congress, Curtis has also introduced bills pushing back on federal public lands policies.
"I support affordable, reliable, clean. And I believe every energy source has an Achilles heel in that and as they work on those Achilles heels, the market will drive what we’ll be using," he told FOX 13 News.
At Curtis' Conservative Climate Summit on Friday, many environmental organizations had set up tables to talk to the crowd.
"We all care, and conservatives care about Utah — our vistas, our lands, our children," said Sarah Wright, the CEO of Utah Clean Energy. "It’s just about having a conversation and getting everyone to the table to solve a really hard problem."
Wright said things were moving toward greener sources of energy to combat the climate crisis.
"I think we’re definitely making progress. We’re just not making it fast enough," she said. "And if we all work together and quit talking past each other? We can move forward at the scale and pace necessary and make the world better for us. Cleaner air, more efficient homes, what’s not to like?"
But Curtis' Democratic opponent in the U.S. Senate race was highly critical of the summit.
"The Conservative Climate Summit, I fear, is another fossil fuel industry-backed delay and distortion tactic that’s designed to take away from the urgency of the issue," Caroline Gleich told FOX 13 News.
Gleich, who is a longtime climate activist, blasted the involvement of the Heritage Foundation in Curtis' summit. She said the group, through its Project 2025, is pushing for less regulation on environmental matters. In a speech at Friday's summit, a Heritage Foundation representative said the group is advocating "common sense policies" and "pushing back" on strict regulations.
Gleich said if elected, she would push policies that are more responsive to the impacts of climate change and move away from a reliance on fossil fuels.
"It is unfathomable to me that in 2024, we are getting 70% of our electricity from coal-fired power plants," she said. "We could rapidly accelerate our transition to clean renewable energy while supporting our legacy energy producing communities across the state and ensuring our clean energy economy of the future is led by American manufacturing and supports good paying union jobs."
Curtis, who will face Gleich and Independent American Party candidate Carlton Bowen in a statewide televised debate next week, said he looks forward to talking about climate policies.
"We have climate-slash-energy policy that keeps energy affordable, reliable, keeps us energy dominant," he said. "But we’re not talking about those cross-sections where we’re actually agreeing because of the way this conversation has been framed."
