1. United States
2. Ariz.
3. Letter

This unconscionable attack on America's public lands cannot be allowed to stand. The damage this bill will inflict on our nation's natural heritage, wildlife, and climate is immense and irreversible. During the appropriations process, urgent action must be taken to reverse these destructive provisions and restore robust protections for our public lands and ecosystems. This bill mandates unprecedented levels of logging, drilling, and mining on federal lands with no regard for environmental impacts or public input. It guts bedrock environmental laws like NEPA and the Endangered Species Act, stripping away longstanding safeguards. Foundational principles of public land management have been discarded in favor of a scorched-earth mandate to turn our public lands over to extractive industry profits. Cherished places like the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge now face guaranteed, aggressive industrialization. Millions of acres will be offered up for coal mining with minimal review. Oil and gas leasing will be rushed through on impossibly tight timelines. This is an unacceptable betrayal of the public trust. Democrats in Congress have the power to stop this disaster by leveraging the appropriations process. They must not squander this opportunity by prioritizing minor victories over the wholesale sacrifice of America's natural legacy. A government shutdown is fully justified to undo these radical attacks and restore strong, science-based protections for our public lands and the climate. Anything less will be an irredeemable failure to uphold their oaths of office. The public demands decisive action to defend these national treasures from pillaging.