[LETTER] Oppose the Fiscal Year 2027 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill

Ahead of this week’s House Appropriations Committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2027 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill, the League of Conservation Voters and Natural Resources Defense Council led the below letter alongside 30 environmental organizations urging members to oppose the bill.

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May 19, 2026

Committee on Appropriations
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Representative,

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, the xx undersigned groups urge you to oppose the House-proposed Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies (Energy and Water) Appropriations Act for Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27). The bill doubles down on the same failed energy policies that have sent energy bills skyrocketing for families and businesses nationwide and decimated American clean energy jobs and innovation. This harmful bill pushes significant cuts to the Department of Energy, elimination of key clean energy offices, and no additional spending guardrails on the administration.

The Energy and Water appropriations bill is our opportunity to invest in the next generation of clean energy and energy efficient technologies that will reduce energy costs for consumers and ensure the United States is at the forefront of clean energy innovation. Unfortunately, the House FY27 Energy and Water proposal shows an insistence upon doing the exact opposite: letting other nations invent and manufacture the cutting-edge clean energy technology the world is demanding while the United States stays reliant upon expensive and dirty fossil fuels. Among the cuts proposed is an abdication of clean energy research, development, demonstration, and deployment programs illustrated by the rebranding of the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy to the Office of Critical Minerals and Energy Innovation – coupled with a proposed 40% cut to that office compared to the last fiscal year. The Office of Electricity, which helps ensure a reliable and affordable grid system, would also face cuts under this proposal.

The grid is under heightened stress, both from climate change-exacerbated weather events and rising demand driven by data center buildout. This is precisely the type of scenario that needs ingenuity, investment, and infrastructure in clean technologies. Giving up on these efforts and the tens of billions of dollars they have saved consumers and businesses, as the presently proposed bill does, threatens local communities while sacrificing both the environment and an energy future rooted in principles of fundamental fairness.

In addition to the woefully low funding levels proposed in this legislation, the bill includes poison pill policy riders, including a rider that would prohibit the implementation of a rule that helps federal buildings transition away from costly fossil-fuels while saving tax-payers money. Riders like this have no place in the appropriations process; for this reason, similar such riders were excised from last year’s Energy and Water bill before it was enacted into law. Bringing back these poison pills is a waste of valuable time that could be better spent producing bipartisan legislation that has a realistic chance of becoming law.

We support efforts by Congress to protect and assert its rightful Article I authority through the FY27 appropriations process. Despite our concerns about the substance of this bill, we recognize that this process should be iterative and that successful appropriations legislation is usually painstakingly negotiated on a bipartisan basis. This administration’s—and, for that matter, any administration’s—faithful execution of appropriations bills in their entirety is a necessary prerequisite to an end-of-year funding agreement.

Again, we urge you to REJECT the House-proposed Energy and Water appropriations bill for FY27, which would reverse progress on clean energy, stall clean energy innovation, further raise energy bills for consumers, and harm communities already disproportionately impacted by pollution and the climate crisis.

Sincerely,

League of Conservation Voters

Natural Resources Defense Council

Carbon180

Change The Chamber

Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN) Action Fund

Clean Water Action

Conservation Law Foundation

Creation Justice Ministries

Detroit Green Skills Alliance

Earthjustice Action

Endangered Habitats League

Endangered Species Coalition

Environmental Defense Fund

Environmental Law & Policy Center

GreenLatinos

Hip Hop Caucus

Kettle Range Conservation Group

Missouri River Bird Observatory

Nature for All

New Mexico Interfaith Power and Light

Next 100 Coalition

Ocean Defense Initiative

Physicians for Social Responsibility

Public Citizen

Sierra Club

Southwest Research and Information Center

The Alaska Center

The CLEO Institute

Union of Concerned Scientists

Visibility Outreach Touch Engage South Arkansas (VOTE SoAR)

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