CRES was founded by Republican grassroots organizer James Dozier in 2013.[1] In 2017, former U.S. SenatorKelly Ayotte was named as the organization's senior advisor.[3]
CRES announced[4] Managing Director Heather Reams’ promotion to executive director. In 2022 Heather Reams was promoted to president at CRES.[5]
In 2018 CRES received a $1 million grant from the MacArthur Foundation. CRES has also received funding from industry groups.[6]
CRES formed the House Clean Energy and Innovation Working Group and the Senate Energy and Environment Working Group to help lawmakers collaborate on clean energy policy.[7][8] In June 2021, CRES supported the formation of the Conservative Climate Caucus—a 60-member organization introduced by U.S. Representative John Curtis (R-UT-03) to educate lawmakers on conservative climate policies.[9]
In October 2021, CRES partnered with ClearPath to organize a trip for Republican lawmakers to attend the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, Scotland (COP26) marking the first time a Republican-only delegation attended a UN climate conference.[10][11][12]
Research
In 2019,[13] CRES worked with ClearPath to release a white paper, "Clean Energy Solutions Must Include Nuclear," in cooperation with fellow energy organizations ClearPath, Center for Climate and Energy Solutions, and American Council for Capital Formation. In 2022, CRES Forum, the policy arm of CRES, released a white paper series titled, “Understanding the Facts.” Based on eight conservative climate policy directives, the series covered various topics within the clean energy space to support “all of the above” solutions to curb greenhouse gas emissions. Examples of such topics included mineral constraints, Chinese emissions, intra-fuel switching, and progress within the U.S. power sector.[14]
The organization also publishes polls that analyzes voters’ sentiments toward clean energy policies and the elected officials who support those solutions.[15][16][17] A June 2020 poll conducted by CRES revealed that Republican voters agree with Democrats and independent voters that the government should address climate change and environmental issues.[18] A February 2020 poll showed that over two-thirds of young voters were more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who states that climate change is real.[6] A 2021 poll indicated that nearly three-quarters of Americans, including more than half of Republicans, support government action to boost clean energy development.[19] In 2022, CRES commissioned a 1,000 person survey conducted by Public Opinion Strategies. The poll found that sixty percent of voters support the federal government taking more action to address climate change, and that there is increased support for such action amongst Republican and Independent voters as compared to earlier polls.[20]
Political positions
CRES works with clean energy policy and weighs in on other issue areas as they relate to clean energy, such as the Paris Agreement.[21][22]
