House GOP Passes Bills That Attack Environmental Protections, Benefit Oil And Mining Companies

Never missing an opportunity to make life easier for extractive industries, House Republicans passed a suite of bills this week to boost development and dismantle environmental protections across millions of acres of federal land.

The bills stand little chance of passing in the Democratic-controlled Senate, but they give GOP industry allies something to tout heading into the 2024 elections. And since several of the measures closely mirror priority actions found in Project 2025, the 920-page policy blueprint that dozens of right-wing organizations compiled to guide former President Donald Trump, it might be a preview of what’s to come next year should Trump win the election.

The measures seek to dismantle several of the Biden administration’s recent actions to better conserve America’s public lands and protect wildlife, including those to limit oil drilling in large areas of Alaska and mineral development near Minnesota’s Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness.

Rep. Michelle Fischbach (R-Minn.) portrayed the measures as safeguards against what she described as President Joe Biden’s “war” on fossil fuels and other extractive industries — rhetoric that ignores the fact that domestic oil production and natural gas exports have never been higher.

“From energy in Alaska to minerals in Minnesota, the bills under this rule empower our domestic producers,” Fischbach said in a speech on the House floor. “The Biden administration is leaving America at a disadvantage while adversaries like China work to expand their global influence. We cannot let this happen. We can be both good stewards of our public lands and take advantage of the many resources they provide.”

Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) called the package a “great