Trenton, N.J. – One week after the U.S. House of Representatives passed a spending bill that slashes funding for several environmental priorities, the League of Conservation Voters launched a $50,000 digital ad campaign holding members of Congress, including Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen (R, NJ-11), accountable for his support of the bill, and thanking Frank LoBiondo (R, NJ-2) for standing up to these attacks.

The appropriations bill, H.R. 3354, makes unacceptable funding cuts to the National Park Service, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and the Environmental Protection Agency while containing a slew of harmful anti-environmental policy riders. The ads are running on Facebook in the members’ districts starting today.

“With this important vote, Rep. Frank LoBiondo demonstrated once again that he prioritizes environmental conservation, while his colleague, Rep. Rodney Frelinghuysen, chose the misguided priorities of the Trump administration over the health and well-being of New Jersey families,” said New Jersey LCV Executive Director Ed Potosnak. “We thank Rep. LoBiondo for being one of 14 House Republicans to vote against this disastrous appropriations bill that slashes funding for estuaries, land and water conservation, and many other programs that keep New Jerseyans healthy and safe.”

As chair of the powerful House Appropriations Committee, Frelinghuysen helped write the funding bill and gather the support it needed to pass. But LoBiondo was one of just a handful of Republicans who opposed it.

“With President Trump leading the most anti-environment administration in our history, we need Congress to protect our public lands and boost funding for the EPA – but instead, the House passed a bill that threatens our outdoor recreation economy, clean air, and clean water,” said LCV President Gene Karpinski. “Members of Congress who refuse to stand up to this radical agenda should know that their constituents are listening and will hold them accountable for putting corporate polluter profits ahead of our families.”

The bill’s attacks on environmental priorities include:

• Drastic cuts to parks and programs that protect public lands, including a 32 percent cut to the Land and Water Conservation Fund and a $64 million cut to the National Park Service.
• A more than $500 million cut to the EPA, while hurricanes Harvey and Irma have highlighted the need for a robustly-funded EPA to protect communities from pollution in our waterways and from industrial facilities.
• Cuts to the EPA’s Environmental Justice Program, which helps low income and minority communities overcome the disproportionate impacts of exposure to hazardous pollution and environmental contamination that have historically plagued these communities.
• Several other anti-environmental policy riders, including measures that would allow the Trump administration to bypass the law and hide from the public the EPA’s repeal of drinking water protections for 117 million people; to delay and weaken smog standards that protect clean air; and to eliminate protections for endangered species such as the Gray Wolf.

LCV’s “Our Lands, Our Vote” campaign has been engaging people across the country to stand up for our public lands and waters since launching in June. Just this week, the Trump administration continued its assault on our public lands when reports surfaced that Secretary Ryan Zinke has recommended the biggest rollback of protected public lands in our history.