Washington, D.C. – In response to Speaker McCarthy’s proposed list of demands to raise the debt ceiling, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) issued the following statement from Senior Vice President for Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld.

“Speaker McCarthy’s proposal is reckless and dangerous. House Republicans’ idea of an “opening bid” is to slash the popular and affordable clean energy plan (the Inflation Reduction Act), jam through the Polluters Over People Act, and gut critical environmental protections in exchange for not causing an economic catastrophe, all to appease their Big Oil donors. Right now, our country is at the start of a clean energy boom that is lowering costs and putting people to work. McCarthy’s list of demands would halt that progress when we need it most. As if that weren’t bad enough, draconian cuts to agencies like EPA would severely curtail support for small drinking water systems and monitoring communities for exposure to pollution in the air, land and water.

“The ongoing climate crisis, as well as recent environmental disasters, like the train derailment in Ohio, underscore that we should be increasing, not cutting, funding for environmental protection and spurring the clean energy economy. House Republicans must abandon these stunts to appease Big Polluters and their MAGA base before their plans result in higher energy costs and the loss of the clean energy manufacturing boom that is already underway. It is dangerous and irresponsible to play politics with a default crisis looming.”

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