Between the shrinking Great Salt Lake, drought impacts on snowpack and historic summer heat, Utah is a red state that sees and feels the effects of climate change in the here and now.
How state leaders talk about and craft policy relating to climate change has also transformed in recent years. Utah’s greatest, saltiest lake is a big reason for that shift.
“I think [climate change is] unique here, in part because we have a gigantic lake that has potentially had some impacts from climate change and would likely continue to have those impacts into the future,” said Utah Foundation President Shawn Teigen.
The nonpartisan policy think-tank’s quadrennial Priorities Project, published in September, found climate issues like water supply and clean air ranked sixth and eighth, respectively, on the list of issues Utahns care about the most.
Those priorities can be reflected in the words and deeds of Utah’s elected officials. U.S. Rep. John Curtis formed the first-of-its-kind Conservative Climate Caucus in 2021. In the face of record drought and the ailing Great Salt Lake, state lawmakers dubbed 2022 the “year of water” and passed landmark water legislation reform. And in 2023, Gov. Spencer Cox declared we’re not going to let the Great Salt Lake dry up in his State of the State.
For Teigen, it’s not that Utah leaders were ever unwilling to talk about climate change. It’s the framing of the issue as one that’s focused on water, air quality or energy policy that has evolved.
”Even 15 years ago, there were people then that were up at the Legislature holding office that thought about water issues, were talking about climate change in a very frank kind of way, whereas maybe some of their colleagues were like, ‘Whoa, easy there, let’s not go that far,” he said. “But, you know, we eventually saw more discussion about it.”
Today, the Conservative Climate Caucus boasts 85 members and money continues to be funneled toward water conservation in Utah, though legislative efforts to prop up the ailing coal industry have been seen by some as a step in the wrong direction.
Curtis has continued to be an outspoken Republican on climate change in his efforts to secure a spot in the Senate left by a retiring Mitt Romney.
“I think anybody that’s had a chance to hear me talk about climate understands that I do it from a very conservative perspective,” he told reporters after the Oct. 10 Senate debate. “I believe that there is a solution for energy needs that’s affordable, reliable and clean, doesn’t leave us dependent on another country for fuel and is right in harmony with conservative values.”
Even though Curtis may stand out on the national stage as a Republican who speaks openly about the climate, he still faces a healthy dose of skepticism from fellow conservatives.
“[Climate change] is more of an issue of the left, and he’s very involved in the climate and going to the UN climate caucuses, which have an agenda that’s harmful to Utahns,” Independent American senate candidate Carlton Bowen told voters during the debate.
There’s also criticism on his left in the Senate race from Democrat Caroline Gleich, who is a professional skier and outspoken climate advocate. She called Curtis’ climate caucus “nothing more than a fossil fuel-funded delay and distortion tactic, and delay is the new denial. We deserve a leader that will address this crisis with the urgency it demands.”
Curtis has decried the idea that when it comes to a conservative talking about climate, “you can never be good enough.” The Conservative Climate Caucus is part of that change. He said when members are asked about it, “instead of going to the default of ‘it’s a hoax,’” they now say, “‘Let me tell you what I would do.’”
Despite the partisan back-and-forth, the fact that climate change is discussed so prominently in a Utah Senate race is an indication that the conversation is shifting, Teigen said. There was a time in the not-so-distant past when a candidate like Gleich “would have been thought of as a kook and perhaps her Republican opponent would not have brought it up at all.” Now it’s easier to talk about with no fear.
“You could be a very conservative person and still have discussions around climate change issues and be very concerned about it and want to figure out a way to address it and help do the Utah part in addressing it going forward,” Teigen noted.