Dear Chairs Murray and Cole, Vice Chair Collins, and Ranking Member DeLauro:

On behalf of our tens of millions of members and supporters across the country, we respectfully request that you significantly increase environmental funding in Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) and exclude any anti-environmental policy provisions from the annual appropriations bills.

Environmental agencies and programs are chronically underfunded. The harmful spending caps imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act have exacerbated this problem, compounding a decade of atrophy wrought by the Budget Control Act. These inadequate top-line funding levels harm communities and ecosystems alike. While we recognize the Committees’ current limitations, we ask that you designate a 302(b) allocation for the Interior-Environment Subcommittees in FY25 that meets or exceeds the president’s budget, which would require a minimum estimated level of $46.75 billion (pending an official score from the Congressional Budget Office). The interim allocation previewed in the House this month was far below this level, and we urge the Committee to reconsider before formally adopting such an allocation, which would result in further damage to programs and the resources they support. We also urge you to oppose anti-environmental policy riders—including those carried forward from prior funding bills—which have no place in the appropriations process.

While we are thankful that the final FY24 spending package rejected the vast majority of extreme policy riders and protected much of the funding for critical environmental work, we remain extremely concerned about unprecedented efforts within the past year to defund and otherwise debilitate our nation’s environmental progress. The House’s draft FY24 spending bills were far outside the norm, and were broadly and forcefully opposed by groups across the environmental community.1https://www.lcv.org/media-center/environmental-groups-oppose-fy24-interior-appropriations-bill/ These bills included cuts far deeper than those required by the Fiscal Responsibility Act, and incorporated an unheard-of number of egregious anti-environmental policy riders. We ask that you take the opportunity in FY25 to restore some normalcy by rejecting these extreme and polarizing provisions and cuts, which are as damaging as they are unrealistic.

The Committees must make significant investments in environmental agencies and programs just to restore funding to historic standards, much less to meet the actual needs of our nation. These necessary investments become nearly impossible as long as budget caps such as those imposed by the Fiscal Responsibility Act remain in place. These caps are harmful for our country and force false choices between critical programs, creating a cruel and wholly unnecessary zero-sum game. Removing the budget caps is necessary to meet the country’s environmental needs.

With your leadership, we can—and must—rebuild and equip the crucial agencies and programs that promote environmental justice and protect our health, lands, wildlife, air, water, and oceans. Not only is additional funding necessary to address the climate and biodiversity crises, but these investments can also create good-paying American jobs and revitalize our communities. We thank you for your consideration and stand ready to support you in meeting this request.

Sincerely,

Alaska Wilderness League
American Hiking Society
American Rivers
Animal Welfare Institute
Appalachian Trail Conservancy
Central Sierra Environmental Resource Center
Chesapeake Climate Action Network
Clean Water Action
Climate Action Campaign
Climate Crisis Policy
Coalition to Protect America's National Parks
Conservation Lands Foundation
Creation Justice Ministries
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Endangered Species Coalition
Energy Alabama
Environmental Defense Action Fund
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Environmental Protection Network
Environmental Working Group
Extreme Weather Survivors
Forest Unlimited
Friends of Acadia
Friends of Dyke Marsh
Friends of the Earth Action
Friends of the Inyo
Friends of the Sonoran Desert
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Green America
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Interfaith Power & Light
League of Conservation Voters
Lesson Forest Preservation Group
Los Padres ForestWatch
Monterey Bay Aquarium
National Audubon Society
National Ocean Protection Coalition
National Park Solutions, LLC
National Parks Conservation Association
National Wildlife Federation
National Wildlife Refuge Association
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness
Ocean Defense Initiative
Oceana
Oil Change International
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Scenic America
Sierra Club
Sierra Foothills Audubon Society
Sierra Forest Legacy
Sierra Nevada Alliance
Silvix Resources
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
The Conservation Angler
The Earth Bill Network
The Pew Charitable Trusts
The Wilderness Society
Trust for Public Land
Union of Concerned Scientists
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Western Watersheds Project
WildEarth Guardians
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    https://www.lcv.org/media-center/environmental-groups-oppose-fy24-interior-appropriations-bill/