Climate advocates say they're more welcome at CPAC
‘Seeing a shift’ For the most part, the eco-right and skeptic sides of the GOP kept to themselves. Unlike in previous years, CPAC did not organize its exhibit hall to put their booths next to each other. The groups favoring climate policies focused their efforts largely on young people, a major contingent at CPAC. Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends and the American Conservation Coalition each hosted happy-hour events, with the latter attended by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.), sponsor of the GOP’s tree-planting bill, H.R. 5859. The climate activist groups think they’re winning the battle. “The future of the conservative movement is acting on climate change with conservative solutions,” Benji Backer, president of ACC, told E&E News. “You’re seeing a shift, with even the top Republicans in the country wanting to do something on climate change now. Two years ago, they would never have even considered it.” After ACC participated in the confab last year, conservative columnist Kevin Mooney labeled the group “liberal environmentalists” and accused it of having “infiltrated” the event. Kiera O’Brien, president of Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends, said she recognizes that advocating for carbon taxes goes against the grain at CPAC. “Our policy is certainly new to some people, but we’ve had a surprising number of people who have heard of our policy or who are at least thinking about climate in a critical manner,” she said. O’Brien said she’s “been having a lot of conversations with young people” who want the GOP to have its own climate agenda. “It’s all about changing hearts and minds,” she said. “And that is our victory.” Conservative climate activists are feeling more welcome at CPAC than they have been in the past. “I really felt like the odd one out a couple years ago, much more so than today,” said Bozmoski. “We’re having a discussion about what to do, not about whether or not to do something.”