Following a summer of peak ocean temperatures, wildfires, and record heat waves around the country, House Republicans are promoting appropriations bills that would make huge cuts to environmental agency programs, slash Inflation Reduction Act investments, and include poison pill policies like mandatory offshore oil and gas leasing. All of these efforts will further harm the ocean and undermine the progress we are making to address climate change. It is critically important to call out these harmful policies, particularly as Congress continues negotiations over 2024 spending bills.
This is the second of three themed weeks calling out reckless House GOP provisions in the FY24 appropriations process:
Week 1: Mandated Offshore Oil and Gas Leasing Week 2: Agency Budget Cuts Week 3: Climate Denial
House Appropriations FY24 bills include provisions that would:
Cut the budget for the Environmental Protection Agency by 40%;
Cut the budget for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration by over $900 million, nearly 15%. These cuts would undermine NOAA’s ability to provide data and research that provides critical information for severe storm tracking, weather forecasting, and national defense functions, including U.S. Navy operations and U.S. Coast Guard search and rescue mission;
Cut the budget for the Department of Interior by 14% (including 5% cut to BOEM);
Block climate change research for the U.S. Global Change Research Program, limiting progress on global research and investments relating to the global environment;
Prohibit NOAA–the ocean climate agency– from implementing the President’s Executive Order on Climate Change; and
Prohibit scientists from studying the impacts of climate change on our nation’s commercial fisheries, threatening both the fish and the fishing industry.
Help us bring attention to these cuts in funding for the 2024 fiscal year and advocate for further support for our ocean. ODI is providing partners with social posts, graphics, and video content to draw attention to what is at stake for the ocean and American communities as a result of the Republicans reckless policies.