The League of Conservation Voters led 19 environmental organizations in sending the below letter to the House of Representatives making the following vote recommendation on H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025, when it comes up for a vote. The League of Conservation Voters will strongly consider including votes on this legislation and its amendments in our 2024 National Environmental Scorecard.

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June 27, 2024

United States House of Representatives

Washington, D.C. 20515

Re: Remove anti-environmental provisions from H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025, or Oppose the Bill

Dear Representative,

On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, the undersigned groups urge you to seek the removal of anti-environmental provisions in H.R. 8774, the Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2025, and oppose any and all anti-environmental, anti-science, and anti-democracy amendments. Poison pill policy riders, including those that target the environment, have no place in government funding bills, and must be removed. Unfortunately, poison pills have been included in every bill produced by the House Appropriations Committee so far for Fiscal Year 2025. We urge the House to remove these anti-environmental attacks from these bills, including H.R. 8774, and if they remain, we urge members to vote NO on these bills.

H.R. 8774 includes several harmful poison pill riders that are unrelated to the funding focus of the bill. This bill blocks funding for a variety of executive orders on climate change that help reduce harmful pollution, advance environmental justice, jumpstart clean energy innovation and deployment, and accelerate the transition to a clean energy economy. The damaging effects of these riders would include hobbling our government’s ability to mitigate, prepare for, and respond to the threats posed by climate change. The bill also blocks finalization of the Federal Acquisition Regulation “Disclosure of Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Climate-Related Financial Risk,” which would protect taxpayer dollars from the financial risks of climate change by requiring federal contractors with more than $50 million in annual government contracts, who make up only 1.3% of all federal contractors but 85% of greenhouse gas emissions in the federal supply chain, to disclose their climate financial risks. Finally, the bill includes harmful riders blocking federal agencies’ efforts to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion, efforts critical for fully responding to the intersectional crises of climate change and racial justice.

Poison pill riders have no place in this bill. We urge the House of Representatives to remove these harmful provisions from H.R. 8774. If these anti-environmental attacks are not removed, we urge members to oppose this bill on these grounds.

Sincerely,

Earthjustice

Environmental Defense Fund

League of Conservation Voters

Natural Resources Defense Council

Sierra Club

350.org

Americans for Financial Reform

Center for Biological Diversity

Clean Energy for America

Clean Water Action

Climate Action Campaign

Endangered Species Coalition

Environmental Law & Policy Center

Friends of the Earth Action

Ocean Defense Initiative

Ocean Defense Initiative

Oceana

The Conservation Angler

U.S. partnership for Education for Sustainable Development