Ian Brickey, ian.brickey@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today, the House Natural Resources Committee held a legislative hearing to consider multiple bills that would weaken conservation protections and make it easier for Big Business to drill and mine on public lands. The bills are the latest assault by Congressional Republicans on public lands and waters. One bill from Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks would undo more than a century of precedent and make it significantly harder to designate national monuments. Two other bills would seek to block public input and undo efforts by the Biden Administration to protect public lands in Colorado and Wyoming.
The hearing falls in the middle of the Congressional GOP’s so-called “Energy Week,” during which the Republican-controlled House of Representatives is touting a slew of bills offering handouts to Big Oil and seeking to undo the Biden Administration’s environmental legacy.
Bill information is as follows:
- H.R. 5499 (Rep. Miller-Meeks), “Congressional Oversight of the Antiquities Act”
- H.R. 6085 (Rep. Hageman), To prohibit the implementation of the Draft Resource Management Plan and Environmental Impact Statement for the Rock Springs RMP Revision, Wyoming.
- H.R. 6547 (Rep. Boebert), “Colorado Energy Prosperity Act”
In response, Sierra Club Lands Protection Program Director Athan Manuel, released the following statement:
“This is just another sideshow from a Congressional GOP that is more interested in wasting time on bills written in Big Oil boardrooms than serving the American people. After more than a year in power, they’d rather undo Teddy Roosevelt’s Antiquities Act than take up common sense legislation to protect wildlife, clean air, and clean water. We deserve better.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with millions of members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.