GOP congressman: ‘Republicans do care deeply’ about climate change

Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), the chairman of the Conservative Climate Caucus who will be heading to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland, this week, said on Sunday that “Republicans do care” about climate change.

Curtis said the GOP suffered from a “branding problem” when it came to climate change but asserted that Republicans do in fact care about the issue, despite most members of the party largely opposing measures aimed at combating the crisis.

On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” host Margaret Brennan asked Curtis if it was truly just a “branding problem” that the Republican Party had when it came to the climate.

“Oh, absolutely. Listen, I’m here from the state of Utah, and I guarantee you there are more Republicans here than most places, and I know, deep down, everybody cares about this planet. We want to do what’s best for it. We want to leave it off better for our children,” Curtis responded.

“It’s fair to say we’re turned off by the extremist rhetoric, and we don’t always agree on the way to get there. But I can promise you, Republicans do care deeply, and let me just show you this caucus is a great example,” he added.

Utah Republican @RepJohnCurtis, founding member of the Conservative Climate Caucus, is headed to the #COP26Glasgow summit. What’s his message?

“The message is that Republicans do care. We’ve been subject to a branding problem…I know deep down everybody cares about this planet” pic.twitter.com/5ab2OQNGXv

— Face The Nation (@FaceTheNation) October 31, 2021

Brennan noted that Curtis has been a proponent of nuclear energy as an alternative to fossil fuels and also noted his opposition to the budget reconciliation bill, which included $6 billion for nuclear reactors.

“A blind squirrel could find a nut in a forest, right? That’s what it’s like looking through this bill, trying to find something that you like in it. Six billion dollars out of trillions and trillions of dollars isn’t really a serious effort to explore things that really are fundamental if we’re going to get to a green future,” Curtis said.