A climate summit of conservative lawmakers and energy industry leaders was held in recent days during a particularly sensitive time in U.S. politics.

Hosted by the Conservative Climate Caucus, the third annual Conservative Climate Summit unfolded in Utah last Friday. In keynote sessions, panel discussions and breakout sessions, participants explored “conservative solutions” for energy, the economy, and agriculture aimed at strengthening national security.

The summit featured Rep. John Curtis (R-Utah) as a keynote speaker. The congressman argued the Republican party has a history of embracing progressive environmental policies. The EPA, Curtis pointed out to his colleagues, was created by President Richard Nixon.

“As Republicans, let’s let go of that fear [of climate] and embrace clean,” Curtis said.

The Conservative Climate Caucus is made up of 85 Republican members of Congress. The group works to push their party toward constructive dialogue on climate change and its causes, while also fighting progressive climate proposals that the caucus argues would “hurt our economy, American workers, and national security.”

“The climate is changing, and decades of a global industrial era that has brought prosperity to the world has also contributed to that change,” the caucus website states.

Their efforts face opposition from among party leaders, and could see further pushback if former President Donald Trump is elected to a second term in November.

Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has pushed to remove renewable energy initiatives from the Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. And Trump, meanwhile, has publicly argued that climate change is a hoax.

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Academics find climate change made Helene more intense

The academic think tank World Weather Attribution (WWA) released a study Wednesday that links the intensity of Hurricane Helene — the Category 4 storm that ravaged parts of Florida, Georgia, and North Carolina in late September — with climate change.

The study finds that the hurricane formed over the Gulf of Mexico over several days when record-hot sea surface measures affected the region.

The findings come as Hurricane Milton is set to make landfall on Florida, and government officials, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, are denying the role of climate change as a cause of storm intensity. Institutions participating in the WWA study included Imperial College London, the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, the French Climate and Environment Sciences Laboratory, Princeton University, and the U.S. National Center for Atmospheric Research.

[Read more: Politics of climate change in focus as Hurricane Milton hits Florida]

BrightNight closes on Goldman Sachs investment

Independent renewables power producer BrightNight announced Monday that it has closed a $440 investment from Goldman Sachs Alternatives.

The deal will provide capital for completion of Florida-based BrightNight’s planned rollout of solar and storage projects totaling 31-gigawatt. In the same announcement, BrightNight disclosed an increase in the company’s existing credit facility from $375 to $400 million.

Insurers brace for Milton

Reinsurance companies face losses that may reach $150 billion as Hurricane Milton strikes the West Coast of Florida on Thursday, according to estimates reported by Bloomberg.

While the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund will absorb a large portion of the losses, investors are bracing for a significant hit to private insurers. In a research note Monday morning, UBS analyst Brian Merideth said: “As the insured loss increases, reinsurers will absorb an increasingly larger share of the insured loss.”