Each year, lawmakers must pass 12 spending bills to fund the government. And each year, some lawmakers use these spending bills to push through anti-environmental provisions that have nothing to do with funding the government. These provisions, called “riders” because of the way they ride along on unrelated must-pass legislation, are usually terrible policies that lawmakers know they wouldn’t be able to move through Congress as part of the regular legislative process.
The spending bills that are currently moving through the House of Representatives contain the most anti-environmental riders of any year that I can recall in my decade-long career in DC. If they become law, these policy riders would decimate some of our most basic environmental protections. Clean air, clean water and our most treasured places are under threat.
Communities are mobilizing to counter this attack on some of our most basic needs. Take the time to call your member of Congress and give them a reason to vote for public health over pollution, and in favor of treasured places and not special interests. If you are not already a member of our action list, join now and send a message to your Representative on Capitol Hill about this important issue.