The audacious (and outdoorsy) candidacy of Caroline Gleich
Over the July 4th holiday, I listened to the conversation between Caroline Gleich and Luis Benitez from the Outside Festival … and thought it was fantastic. You should definitely check it out.
If you’re not familiar with Ms. Gleich and her trajectory, she’s a well known face in the outdoor industry who worked her way up through the ranks of sponsored athletes to build both a remarkable outdoor resume (including summiting and skiing Cho Oyu, the world’s 6th highest mountain) as well as a sizable social media following and an increasingly impactful career as a climate activist. She’s testified before the Senate, visited the White House, and was celebrated in 2021 as Utah Clean Energy's Climate Champion of the year.
Tackling her biggest challenge yet, Ms. Gleich is now running for the US Senate in Utah, vying for the seat that opened after Sen. Mitt Romney announced that he would not be running for re-election.
In her interview during the Outside Festival, the first thing that struck me was Ms. Gleich’s relentless positivity. Clearly, she is well equipped to handle the most partisan and nasty parts of our current political arena, and gives credit for her fortitude in large part to her outdoor experiences.
The second thing — and the one that got my brain really going — is her appeal to the “outdoor voter.” As a $1 trillion segment of the United States GDP, the Outdoor sector has been often described as a political “sleeping giant” because of its broad-based support among more than half of the US population, and its direct ties to local economic benefits. There have been a handful of national political candidates in recent years who have used elements of Outdoor in their campaigns (such as Colorado’s John Hickenlooper who ran for president in 2020), but none have made it the cornerstone of their effort at the level of Ms. Gleich.
And so, as the first national candidate who has made Outdoor and its specific connection to climate issues a foundational component of their platform, Ms. Gleich’s campaign is one to watch, both for how it is received in Utah as well as in the rest of the country.
Ms. Gleich’s race will be challenging for a number of reasons, from Utah’s solid red voting record in recent years to its decidedly anti-green positions in the state legislature. The beehive state hasn’t exactly been a pro-environment place over the last, well, couple hundred years, having openly prioritized extractive industries and pushed back on public lands at every turn. To name a few biggies, Utah has sought to have all federal public lands given to state ownership for the expansion of drilling and mining leases through the Transfer of Public Lands Act, there’s been the well documented tug-of-war around the creation of Bears Ears National Monument, and most recently they’ve passed a ‘sovreignty law’ at the state level that enables them to override federal EPA legislation.
Within the outdoor industry, it has been said innumerable times that outdoor recreation is the ultimate non-partisan issue, mainly because the primary user base includes more than half of the US population, the secondary benefits extend to virtually every American, and recent federal funding bills for outdoor recreation have passed with broad support from all parties. Because of its wide support in all demographics, the appeal of outdoors and outdoor recreation can be described as a sort of populism — ie, it’s more about personality than ideology – which makes it an incredible way to introduce yourself to voters.
While I’m rooting for her all the way, I do think there are a couple specific benefits to her candidacy, even if she doesn’t succeed in her bid.
The first will be her impact on her Republican opponent this fall. Rep. John Curtis (R) is the founder of the House Conservative Climate Caucus, a group that formed around the goal of “educating House Republicans on climate policies and legislation consistent with conservative values.” Unsurprisingly, he’s heavily backed by fossil fuel industries, and gets an 88% voting approval ranking from the conservative Heritage Foundation. Equally unsurprising, he also gets a 6% approval rating from the League of Conservation Voters.
Because Ms. Gleich’s own stance on the natural world is quite robust – environmental protection and climate action are at the top of her issues list – her candidacy will force Curtis to be even more clear about his specific positions. Maybe even strengthen them. Which we’d all agree is a good thing.
The second is Ms. Gleich’s very real impact on other potential candidates in the outdoor universe around the country who are watching her candidacy, specifically to see how Outdoor works as the centerpiece of a national campaign, and how far it can go. Win or lose, the ripple effect is already real.