Washington, D.C. – In response to the release of the House leadership’s appropriations bill to fund the Department of the Interior, the EPA, and related agencies, League of Conservation Voters President Gene Karpinski issued the following statement:

“House Republican leaders and President Trump are pushing dirty budgets that would cut protections communities rely on to safeguard our health and our outdoor heritage. These cuts to the EPA mean more pollution that makes people sick, while slashing programs like the Land and Water Conservation Fund hurts our thriving outdoor economy. Alarmingly, buried in the bill is an extreme provision giving the Trump administration carte blanche to withdraw the popular Clean Water Rule behind closed doors with no input from the public. We urge Congress to reject this dirty budget that is filled with inappropriate and harmful anti-environment policy riders and instead pass a clean spending bill with robust funding to safeguard our air, water, lands, wildlife and climate.”