CFACT “takes aim” at leftist climate policy at CPAC 2023

From left, Greg Neff, CFACT president Craig Rucker, and Shakira Jackson pose at CFACT’s table at CPAC 2023!

This past week, from March 1-4, thousands of conservatives from around the nation converged at the Gaylord National Resort near Washington DC to take part in the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC). This annual event, which was started in 1980 by the American Conservative Union, offers conservative and freedom-minded Americans the opportunity to come together to see old friends, meet new ones, listen to inspiring speeches, and gain new insights from the best organizations in the movement — including CFACT.

Over the course of the four-day event, CFACT made the most of its opportunity as a co-sponsor to directly interact with hundreds of CPAC attendees.  Staff members Greg Neff, Shakira Jackson, Gabriella Hoffman, Marc Morano, Peter Murphy and Craig Rucker all pitched in to help man CFACT’s booth to spread the organization’s message of free market environmentalism.  This included dozens of college students, many of whom expressed interest in becoming Driessen Fellow student interns with CFACT to bring the facts directly to their campus.

“We’ll be following up with all those students who expressed interest. CFACT’s message was very popular at the conference and lots of students were interested in signing up,” said CFACT National Field Coordinator Greg Neff.

A CPAC attendee plays CFACT’s table game!

Included among the materials the Committee handed out were brochures covering key aspects of climate science, free pens and notepads bearing the CFACT logo, books and DVDs, and of course a handout explaining the group’s mission. All these free items were intended to “break the ice” so to speak in fostering conversation on the important issues of the day.

The CFACT table also featured a game giving passersby the opportunity to “shoot” at various aspects of the Leftist green agenda.  They did this by taking a “Nerf Gun” and pulling the trigger at various targets, which included the Green New Deal, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance investing), the Paris Climate Accords, and Carbon Taxes. 

One woman who had just returned from Israel was particularly proud of her achievement. She was the first to hit the “Green New Deal” on the first shot!  Indeed, she later dragged every friend and family member she could find at the conference to the CFACT table so she could see if they could match her sharpshooting skills.  

Those who hit targets (and even those who failed) were all signed up to get CFACT updates and a chance to win free gift cards via a raffle to help pay for today’s high energy prices caused by Biden policies.

Shakira Jackson (left) and Gabriella Hoffman have fun posing at CFACT’s booth in between interacting with attendees.

CFACT universally received praise from those whom we had the opportunity to interact with, including occasional scientists. One visitor who came by turned out to be an Environmental Scientist who expressed to us he was concerned about how his peers were embracing a radical political agenda and compromising on sound science. Needless to say, we kept his card and plan on putting his expertise to good use in the coming year!  

Marc Morano also had a chance to put in a media appearance on TBN’s “Centerpoint,” and Greg Neff made an appearance on an affiliate of the Epoch Times. CFACT activist Shakira Jackson was featured in a photo in the New York Times as well. CFACT conservation expert Gabriella Hoffman was interviewed by Nation World News, which contrasted CFACT’s skeptical climate message based on sound science to that of other groups in attendance that are attempting to convince conservatives to take an alarmist position on climate change.

Those groups, like “Young Conservatives for Carbon Dividends,” think they can compromise with the Left and implement a Green New Deal “lite” to try to win over young voters. This message is of course false, and CFACT will continue to fight against these attempts to undermine the conservative message.

In all, the event was a great success. CFACT managed to further its name recognition in the conservative movement and educate some of the world’s top conservative and libertarian activists. We are looking forward to, and already making plans for, next year’s CPAC conference where CFACT can make an even greater impact. 

Stay tuned!

This article first was posted on cfact.org.

An interested attendee signs up to learn more about CFACT’s message!