FROM: Sara Chieffo, VP of Government Affairs, LCV
TO: Interested Parties
MEMO: The Week Ahead — Most Extreme Anti-Environmental Bill in U.S. History Charges Forward in the House
Despite the overwhelming public support for the lower costs, good-paying jobs, and healthier communities that come with a clean energy economy, House Republicans are doubling down on making their budget reconciliation bill the most extreme and destructive anti-environmental legislation in American history. This week, three powerful House committees — Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Agriculture — will mark up some of the most hotly contested and environmentally reckless parts of the entire package.
This isn’t about fiscal responsibility. It’s not what people are looking for from their government. It’s about handing even more tax breaks and giveaways to Big Oil companies and billionaire CEOs by dismantling environmental protections that protect us from dangerous pollution, gutting affordable, clean energy, and raising costs for working families.
This bill will hurt families and businesses, all to benefit the wealthy and powerful. Here’s a quick look at what happened last week and what we’re expecting for the week ahead.
This week is shaping up to be one of the most consequential yet. On Tuesday, May 13, the House Energy and Commerce, Ways and Means, and Agriculture Committees will all take on their portions of the reconciliation package. As they roll out final bill text, we’re seeing a coordinated effort to gut our hard-fought progress on climate action, reward polluters, and make life more expensive and more difficult for working families.
Energy and Commerce Republicans are increasing pollution and making us sicker at the same time as they’re taking away our health care. The committee is slashing funding for programs that help clean up and monitor air pollution from cars and trucks, in schools, at ports, and in communities already overburdened by pollution. These investments are about protecting kids’ health and giving communities cleaner air to breathe. Cutting them means more asthma, more cancer risk — and more handouts for Big Polluters. Funds that have mobilized billions in private capital to deploy clean energy in communities across the country and to help state, local, and tribal governments reduce their emissions are also on the chopping block.
The fossil fuel giveaways in this bill are extraordinary. They’re delaying the methane pollution fee, a commonsense policy that cuts waste and holds the worst oil and gas polluters accountable, for 10 years. No one should be fooled, however, by the word “delay” — it is a repeal by another name that will only increase costs and pollution that harm our health. The bill creates a pay-to-play scheme for natural gas pipeline projects to pay a fee to bypass environmental reviews and expedite permitting and then be largely shielded from judicial review. And it compensates dirty energy companies when their projects fail due to a lawsuit, but doesn’t provide the same financial backing for offshore wind projects whose permits were recently revoked. These policies will raise household energy costs and harm our frontline communities and our environment — in other words, a polluters’ dream come true.
Committee Republicans are also aiming to dismantle the Department of Energy’s Loan Programs Office, which is spurring domestic manufacturing in clean energy, clean vehicles, batteries, and so much more. Repealing these loan funds will cede U.S. leadership in the global race to lead the 21st century clean energy economy and could lead to job losses in these critical growing sectors.
Despite growing outrage across both parties, Committee Republicans are expected to move forward with tax changes that wipe out thousands of good-paying clean energy jobs and raise energy costs for families. They’re trying to roll back clean energy manufacturing credits that have helped drive job growth in solar, wind, electric vehicles, and battery production, especially in communities already hit hard by other industries moving overseas.
They’re also targeting tax incentives that help families buy electric vehicles and make home upgrades to lower their monthly bills. Experts warn that repealing these credits could spike household electricity costs and derail clean energy projects nationwide. One study estimates bills would rise by over $110 a year by 2026, with even bigger increases in states like New York and Texas.
Meanwhile, Republicans are proposing new tax loopholes for fossil fuel giants and pushing to lower the corporate tax rate from 21% to 15%, delivering even more handouts to Big Oil billionaires despite years of record profits.
Farmers are already feeling the impacts of climate change, from more frequent droughts and floods to unpredictable growing seasons. But instead of helping them adapt, Congressional Republicans have allowed the Trump administration to freeze critical funding, cancel contracts to reimburse farmers who have had to pay upfront for projects, and decimate agency staffing. And now, rather than support farmers by passing a standalone Farm Bill, Republicans are threatening to help large corporate agribusinesses by moving pieces of the Farm Bill into their reconciliation bill, potentially paying for it with even more cuts to vital food assistance programs (SNAP). Also on the chopping block are rural clean energy and climate resilience programs that help lower energy costs, create jobs, and strengthen communities. Ripping apart the long-standing coalition that helps get a bipartisan Farm Bill over the finish line to reward corporate CEOs will only harm small, family-run farms, rural communities, and people who rely on nutrition assistance at a time when we should instead be making our food system and communities more sustainable and resilient.
Last week, Natural Resources Committee Republicans set the tone for what’s to come by advancing a package of polluter handouts and environmental rollbacks that were so extreme, we didn’t think it could get any worse. Until they dropped a surprise midnight amendment that did just that. Some of the most egregious provisions include:
Committee Republicans are making sure Big Oil billionaires win big, while the American people lose our public lands, our protections against climate disasters, and our right to hold polluters accountable in court.
Republicans’ budget reconciliation isn’t just bad math, it’s a coordinated attack on our communities, our special places, and the protections that keep us safe. Putting all the pieces together, this bill:
The potential for harm is unprecedented and the stakes couldn’t be higher. That’s why LCV will continue to expose this bill for what it is: the most extreme anti-environmental bill in U.S. history. Every amendment, every vote, every hearing over the coming weeks is a fight for our communities, for lowering hardworking families electricity bills, to protect good-paying jobs, to ensure we and future generations have access to public lands, to clean air, to clean water, and to a healthy environment.
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©2025 League of Conservation Voters