Outlook July 2026: Get On with It!

by | Jul 8, 2026

Former Congressman Bob Inglis stands between podcast hosts Vincent Sheheen and Joel Lourie in front of a Bourbon in the Back Room sign. All three are smiling and dressed in business attire before recording an episode discussing conservative approaches to addressing climate change, free-market solutions, and carbon pricing.

Great conversation with the hosts of Bourbon in the Back Room. Bob Inglis joined South Carolina Senators Vincent Sheheen and Joel Lourie to talk about why conservatives should lead on climate, how free markets can drive innovation, and why a carbon price doesn’t have to mean bigger government.

Dear EcoRight Supporter,

It’s great when travel days are packed with productive encounters—even if some of those encounters are, well, intimidating. So it was in Columbia, SC, on June 8.

The first stop was with Don Weaver, a Republican member of the Richland County Council. As I waited in his conference room, I noted a bust of JFK. “Suits me,” I thought, “Don must be an actual conservative.” The conversation went well, and he gave us permission to use a quote:

 Art Laffer of the Laffer Curve and Bob Inglis of republicEn.org may be onto something here. Maybe we should consider reducing taxes on payroll income and imposing a tax on pollution instead.”-Richland County Councilman Don Weaver, former President of the SC Taxpayers Association

The intimidation came in the buffet line at the Columbia Rotary Club. The man on the other side of the buffet line looked familiar, and then I heard someone say, “Hello, Judge.”

Whoa, I realized, that’s Judge Joe Anderson, the senior federal judge in South Carolina. I was going to be making the case for action on climate change in front of a very distinguished federal judge, a number of friends, a reporter from my 1998 U.S. Senate race, and a bunch of their fellow Rotarians in our capital city.

I started my presentation by admitting to Judge Anderson that it was intimidating for this recovering commercial real estate attorney to be appearing before him. He smiled that pleasant, get-on-with-it smile, so I got on with it.

Unlike the early returns in my U.S. Senate race, the early returns at the Columbia Rotary Club were very positive, especially from the judge. He went out of his way to say nice things about my presentation to his fellow Rotarians and has kindly followed up by email.

After that, the rest of the day was a breeze—recording “Bourbon in the Backroom, South Carolina’s No. 1 Political Podcast” followed by dinner with a Lexington County Council member and an aide to U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC).

I’m for more days like the one in Columbia, SC—even if some of the encounters are intimidating!

Onward,

Bob

Community Outreach & Engagement

Meet Our Summer Intern: Livia Payne

Promotional graphic for a republicEn webinar featuring Ford Motor Company. The Ford logo appears prominently above the title, “Building the Future of American Manufacturing.” Event details list June 30 at 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT. Supporting text reads: “Ford is transforming how it designs and builds vehicles—this time for the electric era.” On the right side, a close-up photo shows a worker welding or fabricating a vehicle component in a manufacturing facility. The republicEn logo appears at the bottom.

We’re excited to welcome Livia Payne to republicEn as our summer intern! Livia is a Political Science and Environmental Studies student at Northeastern University who shares our belief that conservatives have an important role to play in building practical climate solutions. She recently published her first article for republicEn, exploring how Weber State University in Utah has saved more than $27 million in utility costs by treating sustainability as a smart financial investment. Read Livia’s article here.

Ford’s “Sputnik Moment”

Our June EcoRight Webinar took us inside Ford Motor Company’s thinking on American manufacturing, electric vehicles, and the growing competition with China. One of the most memorable moments came when Bob Inglis compared today’s race for EV leadership to the launch of Sputnik, asking whether America is facing a similar wake-up call. You can watch that clip below. If you’d like to dive deeper into the conversation, republicEn engagement director, Angela Larck, also wrote a recap of the webinar, including the full recording and key takeaways.

EcoRight Speaks Podcast

Promotional graphic for the EcoRight Speaks podcast. The graphic features a headshot of Danny Richter, founder of Richter Capitol Hill Strategies, wearing a dark suit jacket and white shirt in front of a brick wall. The EcoRight Speaks podcast logo appears on the left alongside the Richter Capitol Hill Strategies logo. Text reads: “Season 12, Episode 15” and “Danny Richter – What’s Next for Carbon Pricing?” The design uses a red, white, and gray color scheme.

In June, we wrapped our 12th season of the EcoRight Speaks by featuring EcoRight stalwart Carlos Curbelo and then our traditional “Best of Season 12” segment, highlighting the stellar guests who joined us in efforts to communicate to listeners about policy, clean energy, innovation, and “what’s next” for climate policy.

Latest episodes:

Recordings for season 13 are underway with an expected launch date of July 21st, kicking off with Climate and Clean Energy Solutions (C2ES) head and economist Nat Keohane. Other early guests will include American Action Forum energy expert Shuting Pomerleau, Next Generation Energy founder Kimberly Johnson, and Climate Leadership Council CEO Greg Bertelsen. 

EcoRight News Hub

Graphic for republicEn’s “Climate Week En Review.” The image features a scenic mountain landscape with evergreen trees in the foreground and layered blue mountain ridges stretching into the distance under a partly cloudy sky. Large white text reads “climate week review,” with the red republicEn “En” logo integrated into the title.

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In the Media

republicEn articles/opinions

Screenshot of a republicEn post on X promoting an op-ed by former Congressman Bob Inglis. The post reads: “We’re in a new race. China is moving fast. BYD files an average of 52 patents a day and now leads the world in EV sales. The question isn’t whether we like that reality. The question is whether America intends to compete.” Below the text is a photo of several BYD electric vehicles parked outside a dealership, including a black compact EV in the foreground parked on a bright green charging space marked with a white plug symbol. The article preview headline reads: “China leads in clean energy but the US can catch up.”

republicEn mentions/quotes/coverage

Events

Upcoming events

      • 07/21: Highlands, NC – Lecturer for Center For Life Enrichment
      • 07/27: Clemson, SC – Speaking event with Rotary Club of Clemson
      • 08/04: Columbia, SC – Speaking event with First Tuesday Republican Club of the Midlands
      • 08/20: Travelers Rest, SC – Speaking event with Rotary Club of Travelers Rest
      • 09/01: Mauldin, SC – Speaking event with Mauldin Rotary Club
      • 09/29-09/30: Ithaca, NY – Congress-to-Campus
      • 10/14: Charleston, SC – Guest lecturer at The Citadel
      • 10/24: Georgetown, SC – Featured speaker at SCELP’s 17th Annual Wild Side
      • 11/05: Dahlonega, GA – Speaking event with Lumpkin County GOP
      • 11/10: Columbia, SC – Speaking event with Capitol City Republican Women
      • 11/12: Anderson, SC – Speaking event at Anderson University
      • 11/18: Virtual – Speaker for the Environment Seminar Series (ESS) at University of Toronto
      • 01/26/27: Aiken, SC – Speaking event with Aiken County Republican Club
      • 02/05/27: Bloomington, IN – Keynote speaker for Indiana Sustainability and Resilience Conference
      • 04/06/27: Greenville, SC – Speaking event with Rotary Club of the Reedy River Greenville

Recent events

      • 06/03: Asheville, NC – Speaking event with Kiwanis Club of Asheville
      • 06/08: Columbia, SC – Speaking event with Rotary Club of Columbia
      • 06/11: Virtual – Speaking event with North Carolina’s Sandhills Young Republicans