Rebekah Ashley, rebekah.ashley@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Early Thursday morning, Rep. Blake Moore cast the deciding vote to advance Donald Trump’s massive budget reconciliation package that would endanger Utahns’ clean air and water, fast-track reckless oil and gas leasing and development, and raise costs on Utah’s working families—all to give more tax cuts and handouts to billionaires and corporate polluters. The bill passed 215-214 and now heads to the United States Senate.
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, and kneecap important environmental protections and public health safeguards. 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. It 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.
Notably, public pressure succeeded in removing language that would have required the sale of thousands of acres of public lands in Nevada and Utah to private developers.
If passed into law, the budget reconciliation package would make it more challenging for Utah to lessen its dependence on dirty, fossil fuels and transition to clean energy sources. It would also slash numerous tax credits provided by the IRA that have been beneficial to Utahn families. Since its passage in 2022, the IRA’s clean energy tax credits have reduced pollution, lowered costs, and improved public health for Utahns, while helping to bring more than 3,900 jobs to the state since June 2024. Projections show that number increasing to 8,700 jobs by 2030.
In response, Sierra Club Utah Chapter Director Franque Bains released the following statement:
"This bill is a disaster for Utah’s working families. It threatens our clean air and water, will devastate our growing economy and the jobs that are powering it, and give the oil and gas industry free rein to drill on our public lands and waters—all to reward billionaires and corporate polluters with a tax cut. Blake Moore should be ashamed of himself for voting to subject his constituents to the effects of this misguided bill. The people of Utah have a right to clean air, clean water, to explore the public lands that make our state great, and to a safe and healthy future for future generations. Blake Moore’s deciding vote for this bill puts all of that at risk. We will hold Blake Moore accountable for this careless and cruel decision to hurt our community and the families that call it home."
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.