Politico reports:

Former President Donald Trump’s hard-line positions on climate change aren’t deterring some members of his party from backing policies to stop global warming.

But their challenges are likely to grow as the GOP is poised to nominate a presidential candidate openly hostile to climate science — after years in which Republicans have been divided over whether their party should address the problem at all.

A Trump victory would likely strengthen the hand of the dominant strain of party members and House leaders who only want to attack Democrats on climate — not develop their own policies. Still, the small but growing number of Republicans advocating action say they’ll stay in the fight, with some saying Trump may actually be a net positive.

“We’re not dependent on a standard-bearer outside of the House,” said Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah), the chair and founder of the 82-member Conservative Climate Caucus who is now running for Senate.

“I don’t think it’s a surprise to anybody that charting the course as a Republican to talk about climate has never been easy,” Curtis said, “and so if there are headwinds, we’ll keep pushing forward.”

Trump’s ascendance could do more than just create headwinds. The climate caucus, which represents a little more than a third of House Republicans, already lost a pivotal ally when lawmakers deposed then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy last year. [Continue reading…]