July 22, 2024
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Representatives:
On behalf of our millions of members and supporters, the 83 undersigned groups urge you to oppose H.R. 8998, the Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2025, when it comes up for a vote this week. This bill would hollow out the agencies charged with protecting our environment and our health and would introduce a slew of radical anti-environmental policies that have no place in the appropriations process. This would risk public health, and our lands, wildlife, air, water, and oceans; it is unacceptable and must be rejected.
This bill does not just fail to address the climate and biodiversity crises; it would exacerbate them. As America faces record-breaking heat waves, the bill would defund climate resilience and emissions reduction programs while mandating new fossil fuel lease sales. It would drastically reduce the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget by 20% while eliminating environmental justice programs entirely, opening the door to more hazardous pollution and cutting impacted communities out of the decision making process. Poison-pill policy riders would doom imperiled species to extinction and strip protections for iconic lands and waters.
This bill is infused with so many outrageous policy attacks on our environment that it is impractical to list them individually. Similarly extreme riders were removed from the final FY24 Interior Appropriations bill just a few months ago; by going down this path again, we fear Congress is wasting valuable time that could be better spent producing bipartisan legislation that has a realistic chance of becoming law. We urge you to reject this proposal, which is equal parts damaging and unrealistic.
A final bill should be clean from any anti-environmental riders and should invest more—not less—in environmental agencies and programs. The harmful spending caps imposed last summer have hit agencies and programs hard, compounding a decade of atrophy wrought under previous budgetary restrictions. This attempt to cut their toplines even further would have long-lasting consequences that would harm communities for decades to come.
We thank you for your consideration and stand ready to assist you in meeting our request.
Sincerely,
Alabama Interfaith Power & Light
Alaska Wilderness League Action
American Bird Conservancy
American Humanist Association
American Rivers
Animal Legal Defense Fund
Animal Welfare Institute (AWI)
Attorneys for Animals
Buffalo Field Campaign
CalWild
CCAN Action Fund
Center for Biological Diversity
Center for Environmental Health
Center For Food Safety
Chispa
Clean Water Action
Climate Action Campaign
Climate Crisis Policy
Climate Justice Alliance
Coalition on the Environment and Jewish Life
Coalition to Protect America’s National Parks
Conservation Lands Foundation
Defenders of Wildlife
Earthjustice
Earthworks
Elevate
Endangered Habitats League
Endangered Species Coalition
Environmental Defense Fund
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Environmental Protection Network
Environmental Working Group
Evergreen Action
Farmworker Association of Florida
Friends of the Earth
Great Old Broads for Wilderness
Green Science Policy Institute
GreenLatinos
Greenpeace USA
Illinois Environmental Council
Inland Ocean Coalition
Interfaith Power & Light
Kettle Range Conservation Group
League of Conservation Voters
Los Padres ForestWatch
Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition
Moms Clean Air Force
National Ocean Protection Coalition
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resources Defense Council
Northeastern Minnesotans for Wilderness
Ocean Conservancy
Ocean Defense Initiative
Oceana
Partnership for Policy Integrity
Physicians for Social Responsibility
Physicians for Social Responsibility PA
Project Coyote
Rachel Carson Council
Reintegrating Wildness
Rise to Thrive
Sierra Club
Silvix Resources
Southern Environmental Law Center
Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance
Surfrider Foundation
Texas Impact
Texas Interfaith Power and Light
The Conservation Angler
The Earth Bill Network
The People’s Justice Council
The Wilderness Society
The Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation
Toxic-Free Future
Trust for Public Land
Union of Concerned Scientists
WE ACT for Environmental Justice
Western Watersheds Project
Wolf Conservation Center
Wyoming Untrapped
Yaak Valley Forest Council
Zero Hour