Congresswoman Katie Porter (D-CA) released this statement after the House vote to weaken environmental protections and judicial review, which the Republicans demanded for their willingness to pay our country’s bills:

“Californians know that preventing default and protecting our environment are non-negotiable. Today’s vote wrongly pits these two values against each other. California leads the transition to green energy, creating high-paying jobs and preventing the devastating harms of climate change. This legislation contains giveaway after giveaway to Big Oil, which continues to have too much lobbying influence in Washington. Polluters should not be allowed to write their own environmental assessments, nor attack our democracy’s bedrock principle of judicial review. I cannot support locking California into years of backward thinking on our economy and our environment.” 

The Republican bill puts polluters over people by fast tracking unnecessary fossil fuel projects, removing key environmental oversight of Big Oil, and taking away the voices of state, local, and tribal communities to speak out against harmful projects. As a member of the House Natural Resources Committee, Porter has consistently opposed giveaways to Big Oil.

###