Washington, D.C. – Following passage in the House of Representatives of the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill (H.R. 5538), LCV Deputy Legislative Director Alex Taurel issued the following statement:

“This radical piece of legislation is simply another example of Republican House leadership doing the bidding of big polluters. Not only does it slash funding to the EPA, the Land and Water Conservation Fund, and other programs that protect our air, water, lands, wildlife, and climate; it is also chock-full of ideological, poison-pill riders—such as attacks on our ability to limit carbon pollution from power plants, protect clean water for all communities, and create new parks—that simply have no place in a spending bill.  We thank all the members who fought to remove many of the bill’s harmful provisions, and we urge Republican House leadership to finally get serious about funding the government without attacking the agencies and programs that protect the clean air, clean water, safe climate, and public lands that our communities depend on.”