John,
Anti-environment members of Congress have launched an unprecedented new assault using the annual appropriations process that funds the government — targeting protections for air, water, national forests, public lands, and the Endangered Species Act.
Politicians have slipped poison-pill provisions, or “riders,” into mandatory spending bills. Having little or nothing to do with spending, these riders are stealth attacks that would never stand up to public scrutiny and are being slipped into must-pass budget measures through the back door.
From wolves and grizzly bears to critically imperiled whales and freshwater mussels, hundreds of vulnerable species now have targets on their backs. This year's spending bills contain the largest number of anti-wildlife poison pills in the 50-year history of the Endangered Species Act.
But it doesn't stop there. Hundreds of other riders threaten to pollute water and air and obliterate public lands.
Congress is set to vote on a final funding package soon. Urge your members of Congress to reject any final deal that includes these egregious attacks on wildlife and our environment. |
