President Trump Signs Worst Environmental Legislation in America’s History

Washington, DC – Today, President Trump signed the budget reconciliation bill into law. The final package includes several provisions that represent a sweeping rollback of conservation progress that will irrevocably damage public lands and waters, greatly diminish wildlife habitat and erode one of the few things that connects us all, regardless of race, religion or political party. Here are just a few egregious elements of the bill:

• Slashes royalty rates for onshore and offshore drilling—giving Big Oil sweetheart deals at taxpayers’ expense.
• Reinstates noncompetitive leasing and mandates unprecedented quarterly oil and gas lease sales across nine Western states.
• Opens vast swaths of the Western Arctic to new oil development, reversing critical protections under the Biden administration.
• Cuts coal royalty rates nearly in half, further subsidizing the fossil fuel industry with public land giveaways.
• Rescinds $500 million from the Inflation Reduction Act intended for ecosystem restoration and resilience on public lands.

Below is a statement from Chris Hill, CEO of the Conservation Lands Foundation.

“The leader of the most powerful country in the world believes America’s public lands, wildlife and rural economies are nothing more than an opportunity to fill billionaire's pockets. The passage of the budget reconciliation bill is in direct contradiction to the majority of voters on both sides of the aisle who believe public lands are what makes America great and are worth protecting, conserving and maintaining for the good of all, not just the wealthy few. 

“While we remain strongly opposed to the actions of this President and the elected officials who enacted this deeply unpopular and anti-American bill through Congress, we are grateful to the bipartisan group of lawmakers who successfully defeated one of the most dangerous proposals in the bill: an attempt by Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) to sell-off 1.2 million acres of public lands. In particular, we thank Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM), John Hickenlooper (D-CO), Catherine Cortez Masto (D-NV), Tim Sheehy (R-MT), Steve Daines (R-MT), Mike Crapo (R-ID), and James Risch (R-ID) for their principled stand against the public land liquidation scheme. 

“The next battle is in the appropriations process, where we will push for critical funding for the Bureau of Land Management and the National Conservation Lands. America’s public lands belong to all of us—not to oil companies, mining executives or lawmakers who live in fear of presidential retribution.“

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Contact: Shevawn Bell, shevawn@conservationlands.org 208-890-2778