Utah News Dispatch
Curtis tells climate summit he’s still working on winning over GOP support for climate issues
Utah Sen. John Curtis greets a participant at his annual Conservative Climate Summit at the University of Utah on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. (Photo courtesy of Evan Dernberger/Sen. John Curtis’ office)
Congress can’t agree on how to reopen the federal government, but Utah Sen. John Curtis believes his colleagues are not too far apart to approve his bipartisan-backed plan changing up wildfire management.
“I think the odds are very, very high,” Curtis, a Republican, told reporters Friday when asked about the chances of the fire proposal reaching final passage.
The bill was a focus of Curtis’ annual Conservative Climate Summit. The Friday event came just three weeks after President Donald Trump called climate change a “con job” at the United Nations and as the administration plans to keep coal-fired power plants running to meet energy demands.
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Curtis said he does not agree with the “demonization of fossil fuels” and believes the nation’s energy demands require multiple types of generation.
Asked about the cancellation of $7.5 billion in clean energy projects, Curtis said, “I have concerns.”
He said he’s not familiar with each project, “but I’ll come back to this: We need every electron we can get.”
Over a video feed on Friday, U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright also addressed the canceled projects in a speech to attendees of the climate summit.
“A lot of the stopping of funding of projects we’re working on right now have really been mutual decisions with the original applicants for them, that I think were counting on government support to continue on, you know, subsidized purchases of things that didn’t, that wouldn’t exist without subsidies,” Wright said. “We need things that will fly on their own.”
The National Resources Defense Council has said the projects were “crucial” for manufacturing and grid upgrades, and ending support for them will stall American innovation and competitiveness, raising costs for consumers, and further cementing our reliance on dirty fossil fuels.”
Some Republicans in Congress have shifted away from focusing on climate change, but Curtis said he’s still winning over support from those in his party who attend the yearly event.
“Some of them come, and they fold their arms like that, and they’re very suspicious. And then by the end of the day, they go, ‘I get it’,’” he said, “and they realize that it’s been a mistake for Republicans to not be engaged, because we do, we care deeply about the Earth.”
Curtis is sponsoring the bipartisan fire legislation along with Sens. Alex Padilla of California and John Hickenlooper of Colorado, both Democrats, and fellow Republican Tim Sheehy of Montana.
The wide-ranging bill would set up a Wildfire Intelligence Center, require evaluations of fireshed areas, and boost forest restoration funds, among other changes. Several environmental groups oppose the measure, saying it would open millions of acres of federal land to logging without allowing for scientific review or community input first.
In its fourth year, the event brought together representatives from the energy industry, government and environmental groups, with conversations focused on emerging technology,
the permitting process, employing local workers in new projects, and finding ways for industry and government to work together. Curtis said attendance topped 600.
Part of the event focused on the future of “the future of conservative climate policy” — something Curtis said “absolutely” has a place in today’s world.
“Look at the turnout today,” he said. “I would say absolutely, of course.”
