Challengers for Romney seat heat up Senate race over climate change

The two candidates vying to replace outgoing Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) have made approaches to environmental issues major focuses of their Utah Senate battle.

Ahead of November’s general election, Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) and leftist activist Caroline Gleich are forcing climate groups to take sides on a traditionally Democratic issue. 

Curtis is the founder and former chairman of the House Conservative Climate Caucus. The Utah Republican received nearly $3 million from political action committees bankrolled by climate-focused groups and individuals during his primary campaign, according to a report from the Deseret News.

The Republican nominee to replace Romney even enjoys the support of EDF Action, the advocacy partner of the Environmental Defense Fund, which Politico calls “one of the most influential green groups in the country.” 

“I believe our energy future must be affordable, reliable, and clean, focusing on reducing emissions without limiting energy choices,” Curtis told 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.”

Gleich, who is a professional ski mountaineer, said she believes Curtis is less environmentally friendly than his rhetoric implies. 

“He talks a big game. He talks a lot about what he wants to do. But then when you look at his voting record in Congress, he’s been really disappointing,” she said.  

Gleich received a coveted endorsement from Protect Our Winters, an environmental group Curtis had vied to win over.  She supported President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act, which allocated hundreds of billions in government subsidies to private-sector clean energy and manufacturing projects. She also favors renewable energy alternatives over federal subsidies for fossil fuels, and she has criticized Curtis for receiving support from oil and gas companies and electric utilities. 

While Curtis is heavily favored to win the general election against Gleich, some right-leaning green groups say he’s too centrist for their taste. 

The American Energy Alliance invested in a $100,000 campaign attacking Curtis and an Iowa GOP political candidate for supporting carbon emissions legislation they claim amounts to “back door energy taxes.”

Curtis is a proponent of nuclear energy innovation, and his Advanced Nuclear Reactor Prize Act was signed into law in July. Through his support for the PROVE IT Act, the Utah Republican has also indicated support for reducing the United States’s manufacturing emissions by creating “better standards.”