Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. This week, we’re covering the Trump administration rolling back protections for our public lands, state efforts to tackle the energy affordability crisis, and the ongoing fight for a free and fair democracy.
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“We should have a $5,000 tax rebate for electric cars because they’re better than normal cars. They’re better for the environment, you pay less, and there’s no gas.”
— As reported by Fox8 News, ten year old Christian Mango describes the letter he wrote to MAGA Representative Virginia Foxx (NC-05) explaining why he believes an electric vehicle tax credit will help families and the environment. In response, Foxx belittled and humiliated the fourth grader, and insinuated his teachers are propagandizing him.
“Offshore wind is ready to provide New Hampshire and our New England region with clean and affordable energy, helping us meet demand when it matters most, at a price that won’t make us second guess our energy use.”
— LCV New Hampshire State Director Rob Werner in an op-ed in support of offshore wind. Werner argues that offshore wind is necessary to meet New England’s growing energy needs and will lower energy costs, strengthen the reliability of the electrical grid, and provide critical energy during winter weather.
“They tried to sell off public lands last year, and now they’re back, stripping protections and betting we won’t push back. They’re wrong. Out West, stewardship is a way of life. We’ll fight tooth and nail to protect it.”
— Sen. John Hickenlooper (CO-06) on the Trump administration rolling back the Public Lands Rule which protects more than 245 million acres of public lands across the nation and guides BLM to conserve and protect natural resources.
LCV LAUNCHES AD CAMPAIGNS HIGHLIGHTING LOCAL VOICES: Today, LCV launched advertising and field campaigns in congressional districts represented by Bill Huizenga (MI-04), Scott Perry (PA-10) and Juan Ciscomani (AZ-06) to hold these lawmakers accountable for votes tied to higher utility and gas prices. The ads center the voices of real people whose lives have been impacted by rising costs. You can view the first ad here.
OUR TAKE: LCV Vice President of Field Jennessa Agnew said, “Across the country people are feeling the pain of skyrocketing energy costs and people deserve to know who is responsible. We are using innovative tactics to meet people where they are and ensure they know who voted to gut clean energy, which is the fastest and cheapest to bring online while giving handouts to the fossil fuel industry and billionaires.”
STATE LAWMAKERS JOIN ADVOCATES CALLING ON PJM TO ADDRESS ENERGY AFFORDABILITY: State legislators from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Maryland joined Maryland LCV for a press conference in front of PJM Interconnection’s annual meeting to criticize the grid operator for rising electric rates and the backlog of clean energy projects waiting to be connected. Speakers included Maryland Governor Wes Moore who called on PJM to address rising energy costs by implementing faster grid approvals and prioritizing renewable energy and battery storage projects, as well as shifting the costs of data center energy demand onto developers rather than ratepayers.
MDLCV TAKE: Maryland LCV Director of Climate Policy and Justice Rebecca Rehr said, “PJM is our regional grid operator and the decisions they are making now affect energy prices and environmental quality for years to come. Soaring demand from data centers is sending electricity prices through the roof and we’re facing a real affordability crisis. Families are making difficult choices about which bills to pay or whether they can pay at all. Fossil fuel prices are extremely volatile, and utility profits only increase on the backs of ratepayers when they build the supporting infrastructure. The answers are clear: more clean energy on the grid for a more affordable future. A recent analysis found that if PJM were to allow more clean energy to connect to the grid, it would save each of its customers five hundred dollars a year in reduced energy bills. Even PJM itself has emphasized the importance of clean energy. Today, low-income consumer advocates, environmental groups and lawmakers are here together with a simple message to PJM. Let more affordable clean energy onto the grid.”
MICHIGAN HOUSE REPUBLICANS ATTEMPT TO ROLL BACK 100% CLEAN ENERGY LAW: The Republican majority in Michigan’s House of Representatives approved legislation seeking to repeal the state’s Clean Energy & Jobs Act, which mandates 100% clean energy by 2040. However, Senate leadership has stated that the bill, which would roll back investments and access to clean energy, is dead on arrival in the Senate.
MLCV TAKE: Michigan LCV State Government Affairs Director Ben Poulson said, “At a time when energy costs are skyrocketing and Michiganders are struggling to pay their utility bills, the House voted to sabotage legislation that is pushing Michigan to invest in the cheapest, fastest energy sources available. ‘Project Lights Out’ does nothing to deliver cheaper or more reliable energy for customers while monopoly utility companies and their CEOs continue to profit. At a time when electricity demand is rapidly increasing, these bills take affordable and quickly deployable clean energy solutions off the table.”
MARYLAND GOVERNOR SIGNS UTILITY RELIEF ACT: Governor Wes Moore signed the Utility RELIEF Act into law. The law aims to tackle rising energy costs by holding data centers accountable for their energy usage, protecting ratepayers from energy rate hikes, and setting aside millions in funds to support renewable energy development which will help lower energy costs.
NEVADA COMMUNITIES DEMAND AFFORDABLE ENERGY AND UTILITY ACCOUNTABILITY: Chispa Nevada joined the Nevada Environmental Justice Coalition and community members for a town hall focused on rising utility costs, the daily demand charge, and the need for affordable energy solutions in Nevada. The event brought residents together to push back against utility practices that prioritize corporate profits over working families and to continue building community power around energy justice and accountability.
CONSERVATION COLORADO ADVANCES EV BATTERY RECYCLING LEGISLATION: Colorado lawmakers passed the Electric Vehicle Battery Recycling bill (SB26-003), marking a major step toward reducing climate pollution and supporting sustainable transportation solutions across the state. The legislation will help ensure EV batteries are responsibly reused, repurposed, or recycled as Colorado continues expanding clean transportation investments. Last year in Colorado, nearly 1 in 3 new vehicles sold were electric.
HOUSE DEMOCRATS QUESTION PENTAGON STALLING OFFSHORE WIND: House Democrats are accusing the Trump administration of freezing offshore wind projects by slowing required security reviews, stalling nearly 200 clean energy projects. Lawmakers are demanding an explanation for why the administration has frozen clean energy projects that would help alleviate the ongoing energy affordability crisis and bring relief for struggling families.
BLM ROLLS BACK PUBLIC LANDS PROTECTIONS: Trump’s Bureau of Land Management announced plans to repeal the Conservation and Landscape Health Rule which made conservation and protecting habitat health a formal and accepted use for federal lands, putting them on equal footing with oil and gas drilling. Repealing this rule is part of the Trump administration’s agenda to sell off our public lands to Big Polluters and threatens the health and safety of our communities, monuments, forests, and parks.
OUR TAKE: LCV Conservation Program Director America Fitzpatrick said, “The Conservation and Landscape Health Rule was critical to putting conservation on equal footing with oil and gas drilling on our public lands. By repealing it today, this administration has once again tipped the scales further in favor of their Big Oil buddies. With the rescinding of this rule, this administration has also deemed Tribal consultation as unnecessary to this decision and is ignoring years of community input, Indigenous knowledge, science, and interests of a broad range of stakeholders, in yet another attempt to sell-off and privatize our public lands. Instead of further handcuffing us to be more dependent on fossil fuels while handing over protected lands to the highest bidder, the administration should focus on prioritizing cleaner, more affordable and more reliable energy sources like clean energy.”
CVNM TAKE: Conservation Voters New Mexico Legislative Director Zoe Barker said, “The Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) decision to cancel the Public Lands Rule is the latest in a series of attacks on the public trust, once again placing polluter and corporate profits over the wellbeing of our communities and people. The Public Lands Rule was one that was steeped in common sense and science, ensuring that we balance land use in ways that protect it for future generations. This decision will directly harm southwestern states like New Mexico, who depend heavily on our parks and lands for ecotourism revenue and outdoor recreation. An overwhelming majority of voters in New Mexico are firm in their love of public lands. From devastating federal budget cuts to Trump’s dismantling of the U.S. Forest Service, the actions of this Administration are grossly out of step with this reality. It is also not lost on us that this decision fell on the same day that Congress voted to advance the confirmation of anti-public lands advocate Steve Pearce to lead the Bureau of Land Management. Pearce’s long and consistent record of supporting polluters over public lands and our people speaks for itself: he is the wrong choice to lead BLM, especially at a time when BLM is setting new precedents for dangerous and reckless decisions. We join our allies in condemning the rollback of the Public Lands Rule and confirmation of Steve Pearce, and urge all leaders at all levels of office to prioritize the protection of our lands, waters, and communities.”
EPA PROPOSES DELAY FOR COST-SAVING VEHICLE EMISSIONS STANDARDS: Trump’s EPA proposed a delay to federal vehicle emissions standards aimed at reducing air pollution from new cars, trucks and SUVs. The standards would limit pollutants that harm public health, and repealing them is estimated to result in more than $140 billion in healthcare costs and hundreds of premature deaths. The tailpipe pollution standards often help cars go further on a full tank and save on families’ transportation costs.
OUR TAKE: LCV Vice President of Federal Policy and former EPA scientist Matthew Davis said, “With gas prices over $4.50 per gallon, the Trump administration’s decision to axe tailpipe standards that can help cars use less gas will further drive up costs for our families, while also making us sicker. EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin has once again broken his promise to clean up our air by blocking existing limits on health-harming tailpipe pollution from cars and trucks. Letting cars spew more pollution into our air will mean more cancer, COPD, asthma, high blood pressure, blood clots, strokes, and heart attacks, leading to more hospital visits and missed work and school days. As working families are already struggling with the cost of healthcare, food, and energy, the EPA’s priority should be making air quality better for our communities, not worse. With this decision, the Trump administration is making us sicker and poorer, all to enrich his fossil fuel cronies.”
BLM REMOVES BISON FROM FEDERAL LAND: The Trump administration has ordered the removal of 940 bison from more than 63,000 acres of federal land in Montana. The administration claims the animals don’t qualify as “production-oriented” under the Taylor Grazing Act despite tribal conservation and restoration groups having lawfully grazed bison on the lands for decades. This comes as the BLM has proposed lifting livestock grazing regulations for 155 million acres of public land.
EPA PROPOSES DATA CENTERS CAN BEGIN CONSTRUCTION BEFORE AIR PERMITS: Trump’s EPA has proposed allowing developers of data centers, power plants and other industrial facilities to begin construction before receiving federal air permits. This move could result in potentially damaging projects being approved simply because a company has already made a significant investment in the project. The proposal, which is likely illegal, would ignore the Clean Air Act and the real harm caused by air pollution in communities, particularly in communities of color and with low wealth that are disproportionately targeted by polluting corporations.
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION TO APPEAL RULING ALLOWING WIND AND SOLAR PROJECTS TO MOVE FORWARD: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing that the Trump administration will appeal a federal court ruling that blocked the administration’s attempt to halt wind and solar projects with unnecessary, unfair, and likely illegal red tape. The administration has imposed extremely strict review processes on wind and solar energy projects that have resulted in projects being stalled or canceled.
ARIZONA GOVERNOR ENDORSES GAS PIPELINE PROJECT: Gov. Katie Hobbs endorsed the proposed Desert Southwest Gas Pipeline, a methane gas project that would stretch across Arizona, New Mexico and Texas. The project would deepen Arizona’s dependence on fossil fuels and benefit utility companies at the expense of communities and the environment.
CHISPA AZ TAKE: Chispa Arizona Advocacy and Political Director Vania Guevara said, “The fight for environmental justice is intersectional—we support a system where the working class has access to good union jobs, but a gas pipeline is not sustainable nor should it be done at the expense of potential harm and negative health impacts to the land or people. Decisions like this should not be made without communication and dialogue with impacted communities. We are truly disappointed with this decision. Utility corporations win again.”
COLORADO PASSES LAW TO PROTECT COMMUNITIES FROM IMPACTS OF COAL PLANTS FORCED TO STAY OPEN UNDER TRUMP: Colorado lawmakers passed legislation aimed at lowering the costs and toxic emissions associated with aging coal plants being forced to stay open by orders from the Trump administration. The Colorado law requires operators to implement pollution control measures to reduce their air emissions as well as provide transparency on their energy usage. It also creates mechanisms to reduce the financial burden of running the expensive plants on ratepayers.
SOUTH DAKOTA MINING PROJECT CANCELED: A proposed South Dakota graphite mining project in the Black Hills and near a sacred tribal site called Pe’Sla has been canceled following opposition from Native American tribes and environmental groups. The company, Pete Lien and Sons, has withdrawn its proposal and said it will not reapply.
LCV ACTION FUND ENDORSES RYAN BUSSE FOR MONTANA CONGRESSIONAL SEAT: LCV Action Fund endorsed Ryan Busse for the House of Representatives in Montana’s first congressional district. Busse has put protecting public lands and waters as well as clean energy and energy affordability at the forefront of his platform. He is also endorsed by Montana Conservation Voters Action Fund.
OUR TAKE: LCV Action Fund Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Sara Chieffo said, “Ryan Busse is the champion for our public lands and waters, affordable clean energy and climate action we need in Congress. With energy bills and gas prices soaring and our public lands under unprecedented threat, Montanans need a fighter in Congress and Ryan Busse has shown time and again that he is not afraid to stand up for our shared values. He knows that clean energy is the fastest, most affordable source of energy and what we need to bring costs down for families. Montana is the Last Best Place and Ryan Busse is the strongest candidate to keep it that way–we are proud to endorse him for Congress.”
MCV TAKE: Montana Conservation Voters Action Fund Board Chair Jill Lombardi said, “Montana needs a representative in Congress who’s spent a lifetime defending our outdoor way of life. Ryan Busse is the most experienced conservation champion in this race. Whether it’s fighting for our public lands or ensuring our children have clean air to breathe and clean water to drink, Ryan has shown he has the backbone to stand up to special interests. We are proud to support him in this primary.”
LCV OPPOSES JUSTIN SMITH FOR EIGHTH CIRCUIT: LCV issued a letter urging the Senate to reject the nomination of Justin Smith to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. Smith has repeatedly supported positions favoring polluters and weakening environmental protections. He is also a threat to democracy and free and fair elections, and refused to acknowledge the 2020 election results during a recent confirmation hearing.
OUR TAKE: From the letter, LCV President Pete Maysmith said, “Smith’s record of fighting against environmental protection and democracy make his nomination a threat to the people’s rights to breathe clean air, to drink clean water, to participate in free and fair elections, and to equal justice under law. Smith has worked to advance the interests of polluters at the expense of our communities’ health on numerous occasions. He represented the State of Missouri in resisting protections against chlorpyrifos, which can cause health problems including Parkinson’s and cancer. He defended weakening the Missouri Clean Water Commission. And he led a multistate lawsuit challenging the inclusion of climate pollution’s social costs in the cost-benefit analysis that goes into federal regulations. He worked to overturn the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, and during his recent confirmation hearing, he refused to acknowledge not only the outcome of that election, but even that President Biden won the popular vote, which he did by a margin of over seven million votes. And in announcing Smith’s nomination, President Trump wrote that Smith ‘played a BIG role in securing’ the shameful Supreme Court ruling that provided Trump immunity for his own role in attempting to overturn the 2020 election, including his role in the January 6th insurrection.”
LCV LEADS COALITION CALLING FOR FUNDING FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS: LCV led a coalition of 60 environmental organizations in sending a letter to House and Senate appropriators urging them to support increased federal funding for environmental and public health programs in fiscal year 2027 and to reject anti-environmental policies.
COALITION TAKE: From the letter, “Congressional support for the agencies and programs that protect our health, lands, wildlife, air, water, and oceans has never been more important. Even before this year, agencies were constrained by decades of underfunding. Recent administrative actions—including significant workforce reductions and the withholding of congressionally appropriated funding—have further undermined these agencies’ abilities to carry out their vitally important missions. Underfunded environmental programs mean higher health care and energy costs for families, degraded public lands and waters, and higher risk to communities from climate-fueled natural disasters, among many other impacts to people across the country. Not only is this funding necessary to address the climate and biodiversity crises, but these investments also create good-paying jobs, bring more clean, affordable energy online, support thriving businesses large and small, and revitalize our communities.”
SENATE ADVANCES NOMINATION OF STEVE PEARCE TO LEAD BLM: The Senate has voted to advance the nomination of Steven Pearce for director of the Bureau of Land Management. Pearce has frequently voiced support for selling public lands to oil and gas companies and voted to fast-track public land sales during his time in Congress.
INTERIOR SECRETARY BURGUM TESTIFIES ON RENEWABLE ENERGY: Interior Secretary Doug Burgum clashed with House Democrats during a Natural Resources Committee hearing over the Trump administration’s opposition to renewable energy projects and denied the facts that clean energy is the most affordable energy. House Democrats challenged Burgum over the administration blocking affordable wind and solar development while families’ energy costs are skyrocketing.
ON THE BLOG: Our democracy is at risk, and we’re sounding the alarm about the extreme Supreme Court justice’s latest attack on our voting rights. We’ve broken down why granting statehood to Washington, D.C. is critical to protecting our rights and Black voting power. Plus, we’re exposing Trump judicial nominee Justin Smith’s record of putting Big Polluters ahead of environmental protections and our health.
ON OUR SOCIALS: Trump says he doesn’t care about America’s financial situation, and we’re like, girl. We know. He’s gutting clean energy programs that would lower our energy bills, gas prices are skyrocketing, and he has no problem with selling off millions of acres of our public lands to fossil fuel companies. All while MAGA Republicans want us to foot the $1 billion bill for Trump’s ballroom.
MAY 16: Louisiana state primary election.
MAY 19: Kentucky state primary election.
MAY 19: Alabama state primary election.
MAY 19: Idaho state primary election.
MAY 19: Oregon state primary election.
MAY 19: Pennsylvania state primary election.
MAY 25: Memorial Day.
©2026 League of Conservation Voters