Rep. John Curtis and his opponent in Utah’s open U.S. Senate race, outdoor activist Caroline Gleich, want you to know that even though they both want to protect the environment, they support very different pathways to get there.
But their shared focus on climate policy has divided the support of Washington, D.C., interest groups on what is typically a Democrat-dominated issue.
Both Curtis, the Republican Party nominee to replace Sen. Mitt Romney, and Gleich, the Democratic pick, have developed personal brands built around protecting the Beehive State’s natural resources and enabling a transition to cleaner and cheaper energy production.
Their similar goals have brought them together on Capitol Hill over the years as they’ve engaged with the same environmental lobbying groups. Now the candidates are attempting to differentiate themselves to Utah voters even as these national organizations pick sides ahead of the general election.
What climate groups endorsed Curtis?
During Curtis’ hard-fought primary campaign against three well-funded conservative opponents, he received at least $2.85 million in support from political action committees bankrolled by climate-centric groups or individuals.
The single largest contribution was $2 million from from North Carolina native Jay Faison, the head of ClearPath, a conservative clean energy group. ClearPath is a “center-right” nonprofit aimed at reducing global emissions through technology innovation in the fields of nuclear energy, carbon capture and geothermal. The group’s “Republican-aligned” political arm, ClearPath Action, committed another $500,000 to support Curtis in the first quarter of 2024.
Curtis has also received unique support from the American Conservation Coalition, whose mission is to “build the conservative environmental movement.” The group’s lobbying arm made their first-ever primary endorsement by throwing their support behind Curtis — a longtime friend of ACC — in January. ACC’s newly created PAC made its inaugural endorsement to Curtis with over $250,000 to support his primary campaign.
These GOP-leaning groups were joined by EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, which Politico calls “one of the most influential green groups in the country.” EDF Action spent over $100,000 to support Curtis in the primary. Curtis was the first Republican EDF Action backed in 2024, with the group’s president calling Utah’s 3rd Congressional District representative “authentic” and “results oriented” on the issue of climate policy.
Over the years, EDF lobbyists have requested to meet with Curtis on multiple occasions, his campaign confirmed. But another organization Curtis met with regularly, Protect Our Winters, or POW, used its political weight to back Gleich in this year’s election, despite Curtis being a heavy favorite to win.
What climate groups endorsed Gleich?
Gleich, a professional skier and online influencer, received POW’s endorsement on July 31. POW was created to mobilize the outdoor recreation industry “in support of climate action.” She and the organization go back more than a decade, when Gleich became POW’s first athlete-volunteer.
In the intervening years, Gleich has lobbied lawmakers on “clean energy bills,” including the massive Inflation Reduction Act, with organizations like POW, she told the Deseret News. Gleich’s activism led her to meet with Curtis “many times” in his Washington, D.C., office — first with the recreational climbing group’s Access Fund and American Alpine Club, and later as a POW representative. These meetings with Curtis were always “positive,” according to someone familiar with Curtis’ congressional office.
Gleich snagged the endorsement of another “leading green group,” the League of Conservation Voters Action Fund, in June. The group’s president cited Curtis’ vote in opposition to the Inflation Reduction Act, heralded by some as the largest climate package ever signed into law, as evidence that Curtis does not take climate policy seriously.
This has also been Gleich’s line of attack as she has tried to clear Utah’s environmental lane for herself.
How do Curtis and Gleich differ on climate?
Gleich said when she first met with Curtis shortly after he was elected in 2017 she was hopeful he would be a “champion” on decreasing pollution and addressing “the climate crisis.” But she says that’s not what Democratic activists like herself have found.
“He talks a big game. He talks a lot about about what he wants to do. But then when you look at his voting record in Congress, he’s been really disappointing,” Gleich told the Deseret News.
If elected to the Senate, Gleich said she would support phasing out federal subsidies for the fossil fuel industry to “level the playing field” for renewable energy alternatives, even though the renewable energy field is already much more heavily subsidized. Going beyond just leveling the playing field, Gleich said the country needs “systemic” investments to overhaul the energy grid, public transportation and electric vehicle infrastructure, which will create jobs and lead to cheaper electricity bills.
“I’ve worked tirelessly as a citizen to advocate for policies to clean up our air, water, protect our public lands and take action on the climate crisis,” Gleich said. “Our climate, our planet, our health, cannot afford another six years of John Curtis in Congress.”
Gleich criticized Curtis for being one of the members of Congress to have received the most contributions from oil and gas companies and electric utilities, and for having a 6% lifetime score on the “national environmental scorecard” kept by the League of Conservation Voters.
But it would be a stretch to say Curtis enjoys complete support from the energy industry.
The American Energy Alliance, a “conservative energy advocacy group,” spent $100,000 to oppose Curtis in June because of his support for the PROVE IT Act, which would commission a study to calculate the United States’ manufacturing emissions compared to other countries. Curtis introduced the House version of the bill in July. Some conservatives have criticized the bill as a step toward taxing carbon emissions.
While Curtis shied away from a focus on climate during the Republican primary, his tenure in Congress has been characterized by steps taken to give conservatives a seat at the table in climate conversations.
Curtis spearheaded the founding of the Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021, which has rapidly grown to be one of the largest caucuses in the House. He has led Republican delegations to the United Nations climate conference, hosted multiple climate summits in the state and championed nuclear energy innovation. Curtis’ Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act, which would award grants to cover regulatory fees to incentivize new nuclear projects, was signed into law in July.
Curtis has sought to distinguish a Republican approach to climate policy from that pursued by Democrats by refusing to “demonize” fossil fuels and insisting that energy sources like coal and natural gas — which make up large portions of the economy in Curtis’ 3rd District — are part of the solution.
“I believe our energy future must be affordable, reliable, and clean, focusing on reducing emissions without limiting energy choices,” Curtis told the Deseret News in a statement. “By embracing innovative solutions championed by Utah’s fossil fuel companies and our entire energy industry, as well as leveraging our abundant natural resources, we have significantly reduced emissions, more than the next ten countries combined. Utah’s energy sector and the United States energy industry is poised to continue driving this trend of energy dominance.”
Since entering Congress in 2017, Curtis has passed 20 bills into law, making him one of the most productive lawmakers in the country. One of the most impactful of these was the Emery County Public Land Management Act, signed in 2019, which transferred thousands of acres of federal land to the state of Utah and created new conservation areas.
All five of the GOP candidates running to replace Curtis in the 3rd District, vowed during the primary to continue Curtis’ legacy by joining the Conservative Climate Caucus and prioritizing innovative energy policy.