Hello…. what a week! From Senator John Warner’s very moving funeral at the National Cathedral to Rep. John Curtis’s climate caucus launch, there was much on our minds. Buckle in!
This week’s must read: Young Republican voters support action on climate change (Bangor Daily News) From my home state comes this opinion piece in which Cody Porter, chair of the Maine College Republicans, writes:
“While climate change may be viewed by some as a single-party issue, the reality is quite different. More than half of Maine’s Republicans are in favor of climate action, and among young GOP voters generally, support for environmental solutions exceeds 80 percent.“
Two full seasons of the EcoRight Speaks are in the books.
To wrap up this season, we decided to compile clips from some of our favorite episodes. As I scanned our guest list for season two, I got a little weepy, frankly, at the calibre of people I had the honor of interviewing.
We kicked off the season with Pearland, Texas council member Luke Orlando and ended it with our longtime friend, Catrina Rorke. In between we featured climate scientists, a meteorologist, a journalist, young conservatives, a mayor, a polling/messaging expert, and so much more.
The podcast is taking a little break and we will be back in your ears in mid-July with a suite of exciting new guests.
This week’s must watch: Why we need a carbon tax (CNN) In case you’re looking for a good video primer on pricing carbon, this clip is it. I couldn’t embed the video, so you have to click on the link to watch it, and if you want a preview of the theme, this quote says it all:
“Let’s tax the thing we all should agree we want less of, which is carbon dioxide emissions.”
Hit the road: After nearly 15 months of no travel, our executive director Bob Inglis (pictured above, addressing the crowd) is getting back on the road. This week, he spoke at the Tar Heel Boys State, where he was reunited with our spokesperson, J.C. Leser, whom he originally met at Boys State in 2019.
Does your club or organization want Bob to speak? We are working on his late summer/fall calendar and are eager to share his voice far and wide. Rotary clubs, local chambers of commerce, student groups… reach out if you have a gathering where you think he’d make a compelling speaker!
And now the big news…
Introducing… the Conservative Climate Caucus: We knew it was coming and Wednesday was the day. Rep. John Curtis (UT-3) has officially launched his Conservative Climate Caucus, which already has more than 50 House Republican members.
“If we’re not successful working with Democrats then we’ll fail,” Mr. Curtis said. “If this is only about getting Republicans talking about climate and it just increases the partisan nature of climate, that’s a failure for me. We have to learn how to engage our Democratic colleagues to move forward legislation.”
The members of this caucus understand that climate change is a global issue and that the federal government has a role to play in solving the crisis. The working group will seek briefings from various experts and stakeholders and make sure they have a seat at the negotiating table.
“As Congressman Curtis has said many times with respect to climate solutions, if you’re not on the table, you’re on the menu,” our Bob Inglis said. “This new caucus he organized is a move in the right direction, literally. It’s refreshing to see so many right-of-center House members eager to lean in and learn how free enterprise climate change solutions are based in conservative principles.”
A list of members can be found here.
We can’t wait to see where this effort goes and to help where we can.
Until next time, wear sunscreen, drink water, do good things.
P.S. Happy 104th Birthday to my grandma, who now has lived through two pandemics (and so much more).