Another Insightful Sign Worthy of an Honorable Mention Award in This Competition!
Yesterday, during the House Appropriations Interior and Environmental Subcommitee hearing for the Fiscal Year 2027 budget request with Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Ranking Member Chellie Pingree (D-ME) condemned the Trump Administration’s aggressive campaign against renewable energy as gas prices soar. In her opening remarks, Pingree outlined the Administration’s clear pattern of propping up Big Oil and sabotaging renewable energy projects, while also failing to uphold the Department’s mission to protect and manage our natural resources, to uphold our trust and treaty obligations and to follow the science.
“All of these dirty deals are to benefit industry. And it’s at the expense of the American people. Americans are now paying an average of $4.04 for a gallon of gas. According to Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research, gas prices could peak at $4.36 a gallon, costing the average household $740 more for gas this year,” Pingree said. “So itd makes no sense tdo me why this administration would be actively sabotaging renewable energy, which we know is the cheaper and more affordable energ option for families. Honestly, it just makes me very angry. This administration’s policies are causing an affordability crisis and there seems to be a lack of focus on what the Department’s mission actually is.”
The fiscal year 2027 budget requests $15 billion for the Department of the Interior:
RENEWABLE ENERGY: cuts $45 million from the Bureau of Land Management and Bureau of Ocean Energ Management and eliminates renewable energy fundng which includes onshore and offshore wind energy. BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT: Cuts $480 million and slashes funding for Wildlife and Aquatic Habitat Management by $139 million, which includes funding for sage grouse and threatened and endangered species. US FISH AND WILDLIFE (FWS): cuts $526 million, decreasing the National Wildlife Refuge System by 20 percent, eliminates grant programs managed by States, Tribes and other nations, and moves NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service into FWS ($125 million transfer). NATIONAL PARK SERVICE: Cuts $1.06 billion. Operation of the National Park System: cuts $700 million or 26 percent. The skinny budget suggests they may change the funding formula to defund or drastically cut support for smaller or less visited park units. National Recreation and Preservation: cuts $86 million or 93 percent Historic Preservation Fund: cuts $170 million or a 94 percent cut and eliminates everything except funding for Historically Black Colleges and Univertities (HBCUs). Construction: cuts $40 million or a 45 percent cut. US GEOLOGICAL SURVEY: CUTS $526 million, a 37 percent reduction that eliminates ecosystems and dramatcally cuts funding for core science and natural hazards. BUREAU OF INDIAN AFFAIRS: cuts $378 million, including the elimination of the Indian Guaranteed Loan program and the Idian Land Consolidatio program and a 34 percent reduction in funds that support self-governance and directly fund tribal operations. BUREAU OF INDIAN EDUCATION: Cuts $436 million, a 32 percent reduction; since eliminations include funding for Tribal Colleges and Universities, Replacement School Construction and Early Child and Familly Development. WILDLAND FIRE: Transfers all US Forest Service Wildland Fire Management functions to DOI.
“Strangely the “Republican Press Herald” has not reported this information provided by Congresswoman Pingree in a press release yesterday. But, that’s really not unusual since they rarely report her important news from DC. Maybe that’s because the local is the mouthpiece for Senator Susan Collins who does not want to have severe budget cuts like this be public knowledge,” suggests this blogger. “By the way, incumbent Susan Collins is now officially the under dog in the upcoming Senate race to replace her in November.”