The legislation includes sweeping funding cuts for the Environmental Protection Agency, the Interior Department and the White House’s Council of Environmental Quality. Wildfire management is among the few programs that would see a significant rise in funding under the plan. But it acts as a clear statement of the Republican Party’s environmental priorities in an era of accelerating climate change and biodiversity loss. Gary Hershorn via Getty ImagesThe plan would claw back controversial wildlife protections that conservatives have come to view as a proxy for federal overreach, especially in the West. Fish and Wildlife Service would have to reissue its 2020 ruling removing Endangered Species Act protections for the gray wolf.

Source: Huffington Post July 20, 2023 09:55 UTC