House Panel Votes to Weaken Protections for Clean Air, Water

WASHINGTON (July 9, 2014) —House Republicans today rammed a spending bill through the House Appropriations Interior and Environment Subcommittee that would seriously weaken the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to protect the public from breathing dirty air and drinking polluted water.

The following is a statement from Scott Slesinger, legislative director at the Natural Resources Defense Council:

“Once again, House Republicans are pushing an ideological agenda to gut the Environmental Protection Agency. They also would allow power plants to continue dumping unlimited carbon pollution into the air and to severely weaken protections needed to keep our communities’ drinking water safe and curb pollution of our oceans and waterways.

“Worse, by tacking these policy reversals onto spending bills to appease their radical base, House Republicans are once again rushing toward another government shutdown that will, undoubtedly, harm America’s families, communities and economy.”