Climate Change Donors Throw Millions Behind Mitt Romney’s Chosen Successor John Curtis in Utah Senate Primary

Pro-climate change advocates have flooded millions of dollars to Rep. John Curtis (R-UT), the preferred establishment candidate to replace the retiring Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).

Jay Faison, the founder of the ClearPath Foundation, a nonprofit based in North Carolina that is focused on “conservative clean energy,” donated $2 million to Conservative Values for Utah, a super PAC that spent nearly $5 million backing Curtis and roughly $330,00 attacking Trent Staggs, the mayor of Riverton, Utah, and Curtis’s primary opponent.

ClearPath Action Fund named Curtis one of its ten “clean energy champions.” Curtis currently chairs the Conservative Climate Caucus.

Conservative Values for Utah, according to Open Secrets, has spent the most of any outside group in the race to replace Sen. Romney. A staggering $7.7 million from outside groups has been spent to support Curtis, while nearly $2 million has been spent to oppose Staggs.

“The fact I have leaned into an issue that is not typically traditional [among Republicans] is helpful to me,” Curtis told Politico in January, referring to his focus on climate change policies.

Other climate change groups, such as EDF Action, spent $100,000 in ads supporting Curtis. Clearpath Action Fund spent $67,000 supporting Curtis.

EDF Action Fund formally announced in March that it opposes former President Donald Trump’s reelection candidacy.

“In 2020, however, our board determined that the consequences of a second Trump term would be so catastrophic that we were left with no choice but to oppose his candidacy – the first time EDF Action had ever taken a side in a presidential race,” EDF Action Fund President David Kieve wrote.

He continued:

While we hoped that Donald Trump would be a distant memory by now, our nation is not so fortunate. Mr. Trump is all but assured to be the Republican nominee for president and leads in many general election polls. Make no mistake about the stakes: Mr. Trump is worse on our core issues today than he was four years ago. Mr. Trump’s antipathy to electric cars and renewable energy has deepened, and he has identified significantly expanding drilling for oil as one of his top day-one priorities, often coming even before his border wall. His allies have also written a comprehensive plan to eliminate environmental and public health protections while exacerbating the climate crisis that is already disrupting lives and communities.

All the progress we have made in the last four years is at risk. We have made historic investments in combatting the climate crisis, supercharging the clean energy transition, and addressing environmental injustice. We have gotten more done on climate than in any similar period in American history, and the contrast with Mr. Trump’s tenure in office could not be more dramatic.

Mr. Trump represents a unique threat to our air, water and public health. His policies would cause irreparable harm. There is no Trump-proofing the climate.

Kieve added, “Progress requires all of us, and it’s critical that we keep moving forward to meet our climate goals and build a stronger, healthier and more prosperous America for everyone.”