Media Contact:
Camila Ruiz Gallardo, camilarg@earthworks.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. — As Congress advances a sweeping budget package through various House committees, Earthworks is sounding the alarm over provisions that would jeopardize community health, dismantle progress on critical climate and environmental initiatives, gut Tribal rights, sell off public lands, and hand over billions to the fossil fuel and mining industries at the expense of every-day people.
While billed as a routine budget process, what’s happening in Congress right now is anything but. The legislation includes major rollbacks to environmental protections and clean energy investments including gutting tax credits that would’ve made renewable energy more affordable and created jobs.
“There’s no way to spin this–Congress is using the budget process to gut climate progress, self off public lands and reward polluters while restricting tools those on the front lines have to seek justice,” said Jennifer Krill, Executive Director, Earthworks. “It’s a slap in the face to communities facing rising energy costs, worsening pollution, and a rapidly accelerating climate crisis.”
Instead of investing in a livable future, Republicans in Congress are doubling down on fossil fuel and mining expansions, fast-tracking liquified “natural” gas (LNG) by allowing the Department of Energy to deem a potential LNG export facility to be “in the public interest” if the applicant pays a fee of $1 million. This rapid expansion would result in increasing energy bills and a more severe pollution public health crisis. In addition, key EPA regulations including the Methane Emissions Reduction Program would be repealed leading to worsening air pollution, increasing health risks like asthma, cancer, and heat-related illness, especially in low-income and frontline communities. It would also let oil and gas companies off the hook for methane waste, leaving the public to bear the environmental and economic costs.
The bill gives away public land for free to mining companies and cuts protections for clean air, clean water and Tribal rights to pay for tax cuts to billionaires.
The package, while eliminating funding for environmental justice programs, emissions reduction grants, and the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund which help communities most affected by pollution and the climate crisis, introduces a $10 million “pay to play” permitting scheme. This proposed measure would allow fossil fuel and mining developers to bypass environmental reviews while ending judicial review, making it impossible for communities to challenge harmful projects in court.
Earthworks is calling on lawmakers to reject these dangerous provisions. There is still time to remove them before final passage.
“This budget should fund solutions, not pollution,” said Jennifer Krill. “We urge the Senate to stand with people and communities who they represent and strip these harmful rollbacks and giveaways from the final bill. They should be looking out for the health and safety of the people who elected them instead of finding more ways to sell off public lands to line the pockets of fossil fuel and mining billionaires.”
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