Wreckonciliation!

PRESENTED BY A LONG-BILLED THRASHER

The hydrosphere has had enough of our bullshit. The relentless burning of fossil fuels is making the seas boiling hot, and now Trump is planning to denude the deep sea and is DOGE-ing the scientists who protect the Great Lakes from toxic algal blooms. So the Red Sea is eating fighter jets, New Orleans is flooding, and Lake Michigan tried to eat Mitchell O’Brien. Though it’s possible the Great Lake is secretly a romantic, as O’Brien emerged with a girlfriend.

House Republicans forced an extravaganza of fossil fuels, mining, and timber interests through the Natural Resources Committee yesterday, with an all-day budget reconciliation markup that began at 10 am and concluded a little before 1 am this morning.

They conducted the markup in silence, refusing to engage with committee Democrats, who introduced dozens of amendments against the destruction of our climate and lambasted the fire sale of our natural heritage. At one point, after Rep. Joe Neguse (D-Colo.) invited Republicans to debate, the sound of crickets chirping broke the silence of the committee room, causing Rep. Emily Randall (D-Wash.) to chortle.

The bill mandates increased oil and gas sales, long-term timber sales, and coal sales, all while cutting royalty rates and sidelining environmental reviews. With the addition of an unannounced late-night amendment, the bill also forces a sell-off of thousands of acres of federal lands in Nevada and Utah. Meanwhile, royalties on renewable projects are increased, and Inflation Reduction Act and other climate programs are eliminated, including funding for national parks, marine sanctuaries, coastal resilience, and the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool, which the Trump White House illegally shuttered.

The League of Conservation Voters is leading a protest rally against the climate-polluter giveaways at 4 pm on the Capitol steps.

The quisling Rep. Adam Gray (D-Calif.) joined the Republicans in support of this excrescence.

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is holding a hearing on the Environmental Protection Agency’s Brownfields Program today. The program provides federal financing for cleaning up contaminated industrial sites, but Republicans want the rules enforcing full clean-ups to be relaxed or eliminated.

U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins is presenting the USDA budget request before House appropriators led by Rep. Andy Harris (R-Md.) today. The budget eviscerates USDA science and conservation initiatives including the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service and Research Statistical Agencies, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, Forest and Rangeland Research, and Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration, and State, Local, Tribal, and NGO Conservation Programs. Rural development programs are slashed, as is the Commodity Supplemental Food Program.

Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem testifies before House appropriators on current DHS activities at 10 am on Tuesday and then presents the DHS budget request at 10 am on Wednesday before Senate appropriators led by Sen. Katie Britt (R-Ala.). The DHS budget cuts over a billion dollars in Federal Emergency Management Agency programs while increasing police-state spending by $44 billion.

U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Chris Wright presents the DOE budget request before House appropriators led by Rep. Chuck Fleischmann (R-Tenn.). The DOE budget focuses on rolling back Biden-era climate and renewable science and technology initiatives, including funding for electric vehicles and battery technology. The budget request seeks to eliminate $20 billion in funds.

Cam Hamilton, the acting FEMA Administrator, will have to defend the illegal Trump-Musk evisceration of FEMA before House appropriators this afternoon at 2 pm.

Global yields of barley, corn, and wheat are 4% to 13% lower than they would have been without the unlimited burning of fossil fuels. Twenty-four Republican-run states have joined the American Petroleum Institute and U.S. Chamber of Commerce as plaintiffs in their lawsuit against Vermont’s climate superfund law. EPA maladministrator Lee Zeldin is planning to eliminate the agency’s Office of Research and Development, Office of Atmospheric Protection and Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards.

Hearings on the Hill:

• 10 AM: House Appropriations Committee
     Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Subcommittee
  Fiscal Year 2026 Budget for U.S. Department of Agriculture

• 10 AM: House Appropriations Committee
     Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Subcommittee
  Fiscal Year 2026 Budget for U.S. Department of Energy

• 2 PM: House Appropriations Committee
     Homeland Security Subcommittee
  Oversight of the Federal Emergency Management Agency

Climate Action Today:

• 4 PM: League of Conservation Voters
  Rally at the Capitol: Stop Clean Energy Bans and Polluter Giveaways

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