We are two young conservative women, and we care about climate change. In light of Earth Day a couple weeks ago, we find ourselves reflecting on the many conservative and Republican women who are leading on energy and climate. They may not be revered in the mainstream environmental movement as their political opposites are, but they are formidable voices of reason pushing the cause forward, with free-market, fiscally responsible solutions.

This was a record year for electing GOP women to Congress. They might still be a minority among elected Republican members of Congress, and Congress altogether, but conservative women are no minority in the conservative climate movement. In fact, they are some of the most prominent players who are ascending the mantle of environmental leadership.

Rep. Elise Stefanik (NY-21), a member of the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus, was the primary sponsor of a 2017 Republican climate change resolution in the House of Representatives that called for conservatives to lead the charge on environmental stewardship.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) was the lead Senate sponsor for the successful Better Energy Storage Technology Act (BEST Act) that sought to support grid-scale energy storage research and development and improve the efficiency of our electricity grid. She also enjoyed the highest score, among all Senate Republicans, from the League of Conservation Voters last year.

And, Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), a climate champion and outspoken advocate of nuclear energy, introduced the Nuclear Energy Leadership Act last year. This year, she was one of the primary sponsors of the bipartisan SCALE Act that would develop carbon capture and utilization infrastructure. And, in the recent past, Murkowski has said that a carbon tax “should be one of the options that is on the table for discussion.”

This policy, a price on carbon, not only has the potential to reorient our focus around market-based, minimally intrusive climate solutions, but to provide the GOP with an easy political win.

As an ‘America-First,’ business-preferred approach, this policy has successfully managed to bring young conservatives on board with the climate cause. Polls show that 75% of Republicans under the age of 40 support carbon dividends, also known as carbon fee and dividend, a revenue-neutral version of a carbon tax. It is a free-enterprise, capitalist solution that would unleash widespread, rapid decarbonization throughout the economy, all the while benefiting the average American household and avoiding unnecessary government overreach.

Conservative women can and will continue to lead the climate conversation by advocating for effective, reasonable solutions. And we hope more conservative women will seize this opportunity to add carbon pricing to their climate policy arsenal.

Conservative women might not be as popular as progressive idols like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez or Greta Thunberg, but we care about the issue no less and are bringing our own ideas to the table. The burden falls on right-of-center voices to advocate for these conservative solutions and push them into the national spotlight. Conservative women are already busy doing just that.

Keep up the work, ladies.

Kelsey Grant is a senior at CU-Boulder, a member of the CU College Republicans, and the Conservative Outreach Coordinator for Citizens’ Climate Lobby. Caroline Martin is a member of the University of Michigan College Republicans and a Conservative Outreach Fellow for the Citizens’ Climate Lobby. 

This article was submitted through our open article submission form. To submit an article to Future Female Leaders, click here.