Republicans are divided when it comes to climate change, but the Conservative Climate Caucus (CCC) aims to unify the party around the environment.
Some conservatives are climate change activists while others completely reject the cry that climate change is a problem.
The CCC website states that its mission is to educate Republican politicians about conservative climate proposals while fighting policies that would hurt the U.S. economy, American workers, and national security.
Morano, Sweeney, Robinson
| JFairley
“We've been working with leader Kevin McCarthy on a Republican climate plan,” said Quill Robinson, vice president of government affairs with the American Conservation Coalition (ACC).
The 73-person-strong CCC was founded by Utah Congressman John Curtis with the assistance of the ACC.
“We're a movement and it's working,” Robinson said. “This is how you reach suburban women and young people who are the voters the Republicans need to win. We get to define the solutions only if we're in the arena.”
The CCC is now the second-largest caucus in Congress. Members include the entire Utah delegation as well as Kathy McMorris Rodgers (WA), Bruce Westerman (AR), Dan Newhouse (WA), Lee Zeldin (NY), Michelle Steel (CA), and Paul Gosar (AZ).
“What we'll be pushing for after the mid-term elections are permitting reform,” Robinson told Legal Newsline at the Metropolitan Republican Club (The Met) in Manhattan on Oct. 26. “That's the number one priority.”
Robinson was in New York debating Marc Morano, founder of ClimateDepot.org, an offshoot of the non-profit, Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), which denies climate change is happening. John Sweeney, treasurer of the Met Club, was the moderator.
"Any effect that people attribute to carbon dioxide has been positive, such as warmer winters, which lowers the death rate," Morano argued. "The idea that it's some danger only exists in these ridiculous computer models using the most extreme scenarios."
If it is achieved, permitting reform is expected to free some $3 trillion in clean energy investments over the next ten years.
“We need permitting reform right now,” Robinson argues. “That was the missing piece that didn't come together after the Inflation Reduction Act. Emission reductions from the Inflation Reduction Act will not happen under the status quo unless we cut this red tape. They're not going to be able to build new pipelines or new solar farms.”
Climate investments from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) are expected to result in a 42% reduction in carbon emissions by 2030, according to a Princeton study. The federal target is 50%.
Among the CCC’s beliefs are the following.
Private sector innovation, American resources, and R&D investment have resulted in lower emissions and affordable energy, placing the United States as the global leader in reducing emissions.
“The United States represents around 11% of global missions so alone we cannot make a difference, but we can by exporting technologies, and in fact, planting trees too, and by doing a whole bunch of other things, we could actually lower global greenhouse gas emissions and strengthen our economy at the same time," Robinson said.
Climate change is a global issue and China is the greatest immediate obstacle to reducing world emissions. For example, China dominates the battery manufacturing sector.
“They're quickly moving ahead of us when it comes to manufacturing electric vehicles and when it comes to solar panels, and wind turbines,” Robinson said. “Whether we realize it or not, we are in a clean energy arms race. The world is moving more towards clean energy, it's getting cheaper, and we get to decide whether the next Ford Motor Company is American or Chinese but we don't have much time left to decide that.”
Practical and exportable answers can be found in innovation embraced by the free market.
“Nuclear energy is our biggest and best source of clean energy in the United States,” Robinson added.