Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) is a right-leaning environmental advocacy organization funded by and connected to left-wing environmentalist organizations. 1 The group was founded in 2013 to advocate that Republicans increase government energy regulations and consumption taxes to combat climate change. Though the group claims to support “conservative energy solutions,” it received $1 million in total startup funding from center-left groups, including the Advocacy Fund (the advocacy arm of the left-of-center Tides Foundation) and the Trust for Energy Innovation. 2
James Dozier is the founder, executive director, and board president of CRES. 3 Dozier is a principal at the political consulting firm Civitas Public Affairs Group; in 2016, CRES paid Civitas $240,000 in “project management” services. 4
On July 17, 2017, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) was named as the organization’s senior advisor. 5 Ayotte, who has called the science on climate change “settled,”6 is a longstanding advocate for action to regulate the energy industry, including as an early Republican supporter of President Barack Obama’s controversial Clean Power Plan. 7
Activities
Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) advocates supporting the development of nuclear energy through deregulation. CRES previously endorsed the Efficient Nuclear Licensing Hearings Act, sponsored by U.S. Rep. Morgan Griffith (R-VA) and U.S. Senators Tim Scott (R-SC) and Chris Coons (D-DE), that would eliminate requirement for the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to hold hearings for planned uncontested nuclear plants. 8
CRES has also supported government investment in decarbonization projects as well as weather-dependent energy. In July 2023, CRES endorsed a U.S. Department of Energy project to spend $135 million on 40 industrial decarbonization initiatives. 9 CRES previously stated it did not support President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act. 10
CRES supports a range of Republican legislative proposals on energy and the climate, including establishing national carbon reporting. 1112 The organization reported spending $409,000 on lobbying in 2016, using lobbyists from McDonald Hopkins and Crossroads Strategies. 13
CRES was a supporter of U.S. participation in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement and lobbied against President Donald Trump’s withdrawal from the agreement. The group ran last-minute advertisements on cable news programs President Trump is believed to watch such as MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” and met with White House aide George David Banks. 14
The organization also has a record of spending heavily in political campaigns. In 2016, CRES endorsed 29 moderate Republican candidates for Congress, including Rep. Carlos Curbelo (FL), Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (FL), Sen. Richard Burr (NC), Rep. Charlie Dent (PA), Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (PA), Rep. Pat Meehan (PA), and Ryan Costello (PA). 5 It spent $2 million in support of candidates with direct mail, radio, digital and television advertising. Of the 29 endorsed, 26 won their races. 15
On December 20, 2018, Heather Reams, the managing director of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), wrote an op-ed criticizing a failed carbon tax proposal for the state of Washington, the second time such a state-wide proposal had been rejected. Estimations show that the tax would have raised gas prices as much as 59 cents a gallon by 2035 within Washington, which already suffers from the third-highest gas prices in the country. They also review that the taxes would cost the average Washington household hundreds of thousands more a year and would have led to a decrease in economic growth within the state by 2020. 16 Acknowledging climate change-related protests occurring in France and Australia, Reams stated “lessons learned from recent events in Paris, Sydney, and […] in the state of Washington show that voters want action on climate change; however liberal attempts to use climate change to justify new channels for tax increases and expansion of the regulation state will face intense public backlash.” 16
On November 6, 2024, Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) Assistant Director & Associate Fellow Quill Robinson 17 name-dropped CRES in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) account regarding potential environmentalist organizations “purpose-built to engage right-of-center policymakers and audiences” 18 following former president Donald Trump winning reelection in the November 2024 presidential elections. 18 Other groups named in the post included ConservAmerica, American Conservation Coalition (ACC), ClearPath, and C3 Solutions. Robinson described CRES as working “closely with Republican lawmakers to communicate conservative solutions to climate and energy solutions.” 18
Ideology
In 2015, former New Hampshire State Senator Gary Lambert (R) wrote an op-ed for the Nashua Telegraph on behalf of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) where he claimed to support environmentalist policies in line with former President Teddy Roosevelt, stating “Anti-environmentalism isn’t an accurate or fair depiction of the majority Republican view. But it is conventional wisdom, and damaging to our party’s electoral prospects in the future.” 19
Leadership
James Dozier
CRES founder James Dozier began his political career as a campaign staffer for former moderate Republican U.S. Representative Connie Morella (R-MD),20 and later served as an organizer for the right-leaning LGBT group Log Cabin Republicans. 21 Dozier has said that the need for Republicans to devise clean energy solutions is “a political reality,” and that “for a growing number of voters this issue isn’t a debate. It’s how we address it. That’s where the conversation is.” 22
The group received early criticism by conservatives for having an allegedly left-leaning political agenda. 23 In July of 2013, The Huffington Post reported that CRES received $500,000 each from the left-leaning Advocacy Fund and the Trust for Energy Innovation, both of which are backers of liberal advocacy groups. 24
In 2022, Dozier founded advocacy groups Centerline Action and Centerline Liberties. 25
Heather Reams
Heather Reams is the president of Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES), holding the role since November 2016. In July 2021, Reams founded and became chair of the Conservative Climate Foundation. In 2017, she founded and became chair of National Clean Energy Week. Prior to this, Reams worked for the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation, and the Association of American Educators. Beforehand, Reams worked as a staff assistant for former U.S. Senator Bob Smith (D-NH). 26
Suzanne Wiles
According to an article by Inside Philanthropy, Suzanne Wiles was paid $760,000 for lobbying services by CRES while she ran lobbying firm Ballard Partners until 2019. 27
She worked for the Florida state campaign for former president Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign. She later ran the 2018 gubernatorial campaign of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). Following the 2020 presidential election, Wiles was hired to lead the Save America PAC, part of former President Trump’s associated political operation. In November 2024, following former President Trump winning the 2024 presidential election, Wiles was announced as the presumptive White House Chief of Staff for the incoming administration. 28 29 30 31 27
Michael Yancy
Michael Yancy is the director of congressional policy for CRES, serving in the role since October 2024. From March 2022 to May 2024, Yancy was the director of policy and advocacy of energy policy advocacy firm CO2EFFICIENT. From 2015 to 2022, Yancy worked in several positions for the office of Rep. Michael Burgess (R-TX). 32
Shawn Affolter
Shawn Affolter has worked as the vice president of CRES since May 2021. Affolter previously worked at the U.S. Department of Energy and as a legislative assistant in the U.S. Senate. 33
Lauren Limke
Lauren Limke has worked as the government relations manager of CRES since December 2023. Limke previously worked as the office director of U.S. Sen. John Hoeven’s (R-ND) 2022 reelection campaign. 34
Jennifer LaTourette
In 2013, CRES also hired the lobbying services of Jennifer LaTourette, wife of former Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), head of the centrist Republican Main Street Partnership. 35 In defense of CRES’s conservative roots, Dozier issued a statement claiming that his group “has received funding from 800 donors and backing from more than 5,000 conservative activists.” 36
Kelly Ayotte
In 2017, former U.S. Senator Kelly Ayotte was named as the organization’s senior advisor. Ayotte previously received more than $500,000 from CRES during her failed 2016 re-election campaign. 37
Ayotte has a long history of supporting environmentalist policies and climate regulations. In 2005, as Attorney General for the State of New Hampshire, Ayotte sued federal regulators over a change that made clean air emissions standards for power plants less strict and eliminated clean air reporting and monitoring requirements, forcing a change to the rule. 38 In 2015, she became the first Senate Republican to endorse then-President Barack Obama’s controversial Clean Power Plan, which increased regulations and taxes on carbon emissions. She also became one of five Republican senators to vote to pass a non-binding amendment stating that “climate change is real and human activity significantly contributes to climate change.” 39
Funding
A June 2024 E&E News article claimed that Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions (CRES) had reported $24 million in revenue “in recent years,” with “the bulk of its haul” coming from the Clean Future Forum, a weather-dependent energy research and development advocacy fund. 40
Between 2019 and 2020, CRES received $50,000 from the left-leaning LLC Arnold Ventures in order “to support and promote climate and clean energy innovation at the federal level.” 41
Grants from CRES
In 2017, CRES paid out $450,000 in grants to other nonprofits, including two Republican-aligned PACs: 42
- Republican Governors Association (PAC): $100,000
- Palmetto PAC: $200,000
- Winning for Women: $100,000
- CLA: $50,000
Financial Documents
CRES is a 501(c)(4) social welfare organization that received recognition of its tax exempt status from the IRS in August 2016. 43
CRES’ IRS Form 990 filings from between 2016 and 2022 are available below:
References
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- Hayden Ludwig. “The Myth of the Conservative Carbon Tax: A Who’s Who of the EcoRight.” Capital Research Center. October 12, 2018. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-myth-of-the-conservative-carbon-tax-part-4/
- Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. 2016. Schedule A, Part VII, Section A.
- Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. 2016. Schedule A, Part VII, Section B (Independent Contractors).
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- “Removing Unnecessary Barriers to Nuclear Development.” Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. May 10, 2024. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://cresenergy.com/blog/removing-unnecessary-barriers-to-nuclear-development/.
- “Lowering Emissions = American Jobs + Global Leadership.” Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. July 7, 2023. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://cresenergy.com/blog/lowering-emissions-american-jobs-global-leadership/.
- “CRES Responds to House Passage of Debt Ceiling Package.” Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. April 26, 2023. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://cresenergy.com/press-releases/cres-responds-to-house-passage-of-debt-ceiling-package/.
- Hernick, Charles and Benjamin Backer. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure, time for nationwide carbon reporting.” The Hill. December 28, 2018. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/423101-you-cant-manage-what-you-dont-measure-time-for-nationwide-carbon
- “Legislative Opportunities for Clean Energy.” Citizens For Responsible Energy Solutions. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://www.citizensfor.com/legislative-opportunities-for-clean-energy/
- Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. 2016.
- Easly, Jonathan, David Henry and Jordan Fabian. “How Trump left the Paris climate deal.” The Hill. June 1, 2017. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/336015-how-trump-left-the-paris-climate-deal
- DiStaso, John. “Updated: Ayotte named senior adviser to right-of-center energy-focused political group.” WMUR New Hampshire. Jul 17, 2017. Accessed April 12, 2019. https://www.wmur.com/article/ayotte-named-senior-adviser-to-right-of-center-energy-focused-political-group/10315108
- Reams, Heather. “From Seattle to Streets of France, a Message to Lawmakers on Energy Policy.” InsideSources, December 20, 2018. https://www.insidesources.com/from-seattle-to-streets-of-france-a-message-to-lawmakers-on-energy-policy/.
- “Quill Robinson.” LinkedIn, Accessed November 12, 2024. https://www.linkedin.com/in/quill-robinson-570a9a120
- Robinson, Quill. “Climate philanthropy funds left-of-center advocacy organizations. Left-of-center advocacy organizations engage left-of-center policymakers and audiences.” X, November 6, 2024. https://x.com/QuillRobinson/status/1854264270500077820
- Lambert, Gary. “Republican Environmentalism.” Citizens for Responsible Energy Solutions. June 17, 2015. Accessed November 14, 2024. https://cresenergy.com/in-the-news/conservation-a-traditional-n-h-republican-value/.
- “James C. Dozier Biography.” Civitas Public Affairs. Accessed April 12, 2019. http://civitaspublicaffairs.com/team/james-c-dozier/
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