House conservatives who want to be active on climate policy have set their sights on a major legislative target: permitting reform.
The Conservative Climate Caucus, a Republican group launched in 2021 to push greenhouse gas reductions without policies like mandates and subsidies, has been mostly silent since Republicans took Congress and the executive branch last year.
But speaking at a gathering of conservative clean energy and environmental advocates Thursday, caucus Chair Mariannette Miller-Meeks (R-Iowa) said that the 66-member group was shoring up to play a role in bipartisan permitting reform talks.
The caucus is going “to be trying to help to ‘socialize,’ if you will, what we’re doing on permitting reform, what it means, how we’re going to get there and, you know, the benefits of what we’re looking at,” Miller-Meeks told attendees of the Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions’ annual summit.
It’s going to be a heavy lift for the caucus, whose last big policy push was an attempt to save at least some Biden-era clean energy tax credits. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act moved to phase them out.
The caucus may be well situated to contribute to bipartisan permitting discussions, given that their conservative membership often shares clean energy priorities with some Democrats.
Miller-Meeks became chair after its founder, Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah), announced he would be leaving the House for his current Senate position. The group has not added any new members in the last year and has lost at least one to an administration appointment.
Miller-Meeks — who represents a wind-heavy Iowa district and has been an advocate for that energy source — attributed the lack in growth to a busy congressional calendar this past year.
“We’re still trying to grow membership, which in a very busy time when — really the entire first seven months of last year was spent on the reconciliation bill, and now we’re looking at another reconciliation bill — but we’ll be doing things on permitting reform, emissions,” she said.
The permitting pivot was evident in numerous lawmakers’ remarks at CRES’ summit Thursday. Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), who chairs the Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy, and Rep. Gabe Evans (R-Colo.) both used the gathering to tout their focus on permitting reform and bolstering the grid.
Fundraising, spending
Members of the Conservative Climate Caucus have used their participation to bolster their green bona fides. Critics on the left have accused them of greenwashing. Critics on the right have accused them of not being conservative enough.
The Thursday CRES conference overlapped with a fundraiser for the Conservative Climate Action political action committee, according to an invitation obtained by POLITICO’s E&E News.
The PAC is separate from CRES and affiliated with the caucus. The event shows it is raising money and giving to lawmakers, providing clues about its strategy heading into this year’s midterm elections.
A dozen House Republicans who are part of the caucus were slated to appear at the event, including Miller-Meeks and Reps. Mike Lawler of New York, Buddy Carter of Georgia and Morgan Griffith of Virginia, the invitation said. The group sought up to $1,000 for admission or $2,500 to sponsor the event.
The PAC launched in 2024 but only started contributing to lawmakers — all Republicans — in March, federal disclosures show.
It has contributed $3,000 each to Reps. Tim Walberg of Michigan, David Valadao of California, Latta, Jeff Hurd of Colorado and Juan Ciscomani of Arizona, and $5,000 to Miller-Meeks. All are members of the caucus.
The PAC has only raised $54,000 since it started in 2024, less than most major House candidates raise in a quarter. Miller-Meeks, for instance, brought in $1.1 million to her campaign in the first three months of 2026.
Ian Harrison, a member of the PAC’s board and current senior vice president of government affairs for Corporate Energy Buyers Association, said Thursday’s fundraiser is one of a number that the PAC plans to host this year.
Donors include investor and philanthropist John Arnold and his wife Laura, who together have donated $30,000. Businessman and Walmart heir Lukas Walton contributed $5,000, while entrepreneur Jay Faison and his wife Olga each gave $5,000. PACs can only take in a maximum of $5,000 from each donor per year and give candidates $3,500 per election.
The Sustainable Energy and Environment Caucus, which only has Democrats, also has an affiliated PAC, which has raised about $350,000 since the beginning of 2025 — more than 10 times the conservative PAC’s fundraising in that time.
The Bipartisan Climate Fund served a similar purpose for the Bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. That caucus has largely been quiet in recent years; the PAC formally shut down in September 2025 after raising $12,000 in the previous nine months.
