Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) To Attend COP-30 Climate Conference In Brazil, For Reasons That Remain Utterly Obscure

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Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) told POLITICO’s E&E News that he and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) will co-lead a delegation to Brazil. At least three other Republicans have expressed interest in joining the trip next month, he said. Curtis attended the annual COP conference — a major site of global climate negotiations — when he was a member of the House.

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The U.S. is not expected to send a delegation to the climate negotiations, in part because the ongoing government shutdown has closed the State Department offices that would typically participate in climate negotiations. Still, Curtis seemed unconcerned at the prospect of Republicans attending the conference without a Trump administration delegation.

“We have an agenda that is really coming together nicely. We’re super happy with it,” Curtis said in an interview. “Let’s put it this way, we’re not having a hard time finding things to do.” In a Senate Foreign Relations hearing earlier this year, Curtis urged Secretary of State Marco Rubio to send a delegation to the conference, saying that “a Republican voice is really important at that table.”

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He specifically pointed to nuclear energy as a key topic for Republicans to amplify at the conference. “The United States can carry a message that you don’t have to give up affordability, you don’t have to give up reliability and we can also be clean. I think that’s a really strong message of force,” he told Rubio. Curtis’ delegation is the first confirmed group of lawmakers planning to visit Brazil during the talks. Other delegations of lawmakers, particularly from the House side, may attend.

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https://www.eenews.net/articles/senate-republican-to-lead-cop30-delegation/

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1. Why is a senator from Utah at cop-30

Utah has a long history of uranium mining, which has seen a recent resurgence due to higher prices and a push for domestic energy production. Recent developments include the fast-tracked approval of the Velvet-Wood mine in San Juan County, the first project approved under a new expedited process initiated by a national energy emergency declaration. This renewed activity is focused on supplying uranium for nuclear reactors, and the state is also home to uranium mills like the White Mesa Mill