Christopher Schuler, christopher.schuler@sierraclub.org
Washington, DC – Early this morning, House Republicans voted to advance Donald Trump’s massive budget reconciliation package that would endanger our clean air and water, fast-track reckless oil and gas leasing and development, and raise costs on working families—all to give more tax cuts and handouts to billionaires and corporate polluters. The bill passed by a single vote, 215-214, and now heads to the Senate where it faces an uncertain fate.
As currently written, the bill would repeal most Inflation Reduction Act clean energy tax credits and investments, expand and expedite approvals for on- and off-shore oil and gas drilling, kneecap important environmental protections and public health safeguards by killing pollution standards for cars and trucks and methane pollution. Final House language also includes “pay to pollute” provisions that would allow corporate polluters to pay a fee to skirt long-standing environmental laws and review processes, and have those permits automatically approved.
The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office released an analysis just this week confirming that the bill would also end lifesaving health care coverage for more than 13 million Americans on Medicaid, raise the deficit by $2.3 trillion over a decade, and automatically trigger more than $500 billion in cuts to the Medicare program that senior citizens rely on.
In response, Sierra Club Legislative Director Melinda Pierce released the following statement:
“This bill is a disaster for working Americans. It endangers our clean air and water, will devastate our growing economy and the manufacturing jobs that are powering it, and opens up our precious lands and waters to even more reckless oil and gas drilling—all to reward Trump and Republicans’ billionaire buddies and corporate polluter pals. This budget package is the sad result of a process that has truly been a race to the bottom as Congressional Republicans make demand after demand to make the bill more cruel and even more disruptive to working families at every turn. The Senate cannot and should not advance this bill. The American people have a right to clean air, clean water, and a safe and healthy future for their children and grandchildren. This bill puts all of that at risk.”
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.