Response: House favors polluters over working people by forcing through dirty deal
“By sneaking deadly policies into must-pass legislation, Congress is sacrificing frontline communities and making a mockery of the democratic process.”
Tonight, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to approve the debt ceiling increase bill known as the Fiscal Responsibility Act. In response, Collin Rees, United States Program Co-Manager at Oil Change International, said:
“Members of Congress are showing their true colors by forcing through a dirty deal favoring polluters over working people. By sneaking deadly policies into must-pass legislation, Congress is sacrificing frontline communities and making a mockery of the democratic process.
“This dirty debt ceiling increase would fast-track construction of the Mountain Valley Pipeline, a nearly $7 billion boondoggle that would transport fracked gas across hundreds of streams and wetlands in Appalachia. The pipeline would be a climate and environmental justice disaster, with emissions equivalent to building 26 new coal plants, while doing nothing to improve national security or help our allies. It is utterly unrelated to the national debt limit.
“The bill also rolls back key aspects of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), further endangering frontline communities and our climate goals. Gutting this bedrock environmental law does nothing to advance clean energy development and would turn historically underserved and environmental justice communities into sacrifice zones. The bill’s deep cuts to social services also represent brutal attacks on families and working people.
“President Biden and the GOP-led House have failed people and our planet with this legislation. We applaud the dozens of Democrats who demanded better and voted ‘no’ on this bill. It is up to the Senate to put people over polluters, reject this dirty compromise, and pass a clean debt limit increase without harmful unrelated components.”
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