Statement – Mining and Energy Impacts from Debt Ceiling Deal

Background: Today the House of Representatives passed the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2023, which would raise the U.S. debt ceiling. The deal negotiated by President Biden and House Speaker McCarthy included a number of damaging changes to bedrock environmental policy, including the National Environmental Protection Act.

Statement from Lauren Pagel, Earthworks Policy Director:
“This bill is the result of a small faction of radical Republican lawmakers holding our economy hostage to line the pockets of oil, gas and mining companies. This will fall swiftly and hard on the frontline communities that must live with these dirty industries. Republicans are playing politics with people’s lives and livelihoods, and should be ashamed of themselves. 

“These extractive industries have been trying to gut the National Environmental Policy Act for decades. These rollbacks will undermine the administration’s attempts to accelerate a just transition away from fossil fuels. It will make it easier to force through bad projects and harder for communities to have a say in decisions that affect their lives. Authorizing the Mountain Valley Pipeline will lock in more dirty fuel at a time when we need to be moving aggressively to clean alternatives.

“President Biden must respond by declaring a climate emergency.”