YCCD at the Young Republican Leadership Conference

YCCD was proud to attend this month’s Young Republican Leadership Conference in Washington DC. Hosted by the Young Republican National Federation, the event attracted young conservative leaders from across the country, as well as guest speakers like Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL3), Congressman Dan Crenshaw (R-TX2), and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA23).

At the conference, YCCD hosted a main-stage panel on climate and energy, featuring Chris Johnson (YCCD’s Managing Director), Grayson Massey (Western Regional Chair for the Young Republicans), and Joseph R. Pinion (GOP strategist and political commentator). The conversation touched on the importance of GOP leadership on climate and energy, the need for market-based solutions, and role for young Republicans in shaping the national discussion.

“This is an important issue for us to bring up with our Republican federal delegations,” said Massey. “We, as young conservatives, need to lead on climate and energy. It’s politically important.”

In his remarks, Pinion emphasized the geo-strategic benefits of US energy development, and the need for Republicans to respond to the bad ideas coming from the environmental left.

“The Green New Deal is more smoke and mirrors than substance…It is now more important than ever for Republicans to fill the void with real substance, with real leadership, and with climate and energy policies that put America first,” said Pinion. “If the best wind turbines in the world are not built in America, if the best solar panels in the world are not made in America, those are jobs that will go to people who do not live in our country, and will fill the coffers of nations that hate us. Those are the stakes.”

The discussion also touched on the importance of having solutions, like a border carbon adjustment, that hold other countries, like China, accountable for their pollution and compel them to do their part.

“A global problem cannot be solved by putting the hammer to American businesses when over 87% of emissions come from outside our borders,” said Pinion. “We have to have plans that deal with the realities of the world in which we live.”