Sen. John Curtis (R-UT) was the lone office-holding Republican included in this year’s Time 100 Climate List.
According to Time editors, those included in the list were chosen after editors evaluated “measurable, scalable achievements over commitments and announcements. We favored more recent action.”
“These 100 people represent the power of individuals to make significant progress in influencing the climate economy,” Time editors wrote in a statement.
This most recent release is the third of its kind. Curtis is the first Republican politician to be included. Time cited the Conservative Climate Caucus Curtis founded in 2021 while a member of the House of Representatives, among the reasons Curtis was included.
“In the House, [Curtis] introduced legislation to study the carbon intensity of U.S. industry, with an eye toward making climate a component of trade,” Time wrote of Curtis. “In this year’s debate over clean technology tax credits, he acted as a moderating force, urging his party to move cautiously and avoid throwing out useful policy.”
Curtis celebrated his inclusion on X Monday.
“No one thought a conservative would ever be on this list,” Curtis wrote. “I’m proud to bring our values of innovation, stewardship, and common sense to the climate conversation, because affordable, reliable, and clean energy should unite us, not divide us.”
Time also put Benji Backer, the founder of the American Conservation Coalition and founder of Nature Is Nonpartisan, on the list. Backer wrote a book on his movement titled The Conservative Environmentalist.
“TIME 100 Climate! I’m beyond honored, but this recognition isn’t about me… it’s a reflection of the increasingly powerful movement we’re building of Americans working to conserve our environment across political boundaries,” Backer wrote on Instagram. “This is *literally* just the beginning.”
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Others on the list include Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA), Gov. Josh Green (D-HI), Gov. Kathy Hochul (D-NY), King Charles III, Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, and Pope Leo XIV.
On Tuesday, the outlet will host the TIME100 Impact Dinner: Leaders Creating Climate Action in Brazil to celebrate those nominated. Curtis will not be in attendance, but will instead “be in Washington for votes,” his communications director, Adam Cloch, told the Washington Examiner.
