Environmentalists don’t like it but the U.S. House has approved a new version of the energy policy overhaul on a 241-178 vote that was along party lines.
Oklahoma’s U.S. Representatives James Bridenstine, Tom Cole, Frank Lucas, Markwayne Mullin and Steve Russell were among the 241 who passed the bill that resurrects the Keystone XL pipeline and prioritizes fossil fuels over renewable energy.
Democrats argued the bill ignites “water waters” in California and environmentalists charged the bill was “loaded down with controversial anti-wildlife and anti-public lands provisions.”
The group, Defenders of Wildlife, called it the “Zombie Apocalypse Energy Bill” that is full of riders “that harm wildlife.”
“It’s an army of previously passed House bills that died in the Senate, but here they are again, back from the dead and out to cause the destruction of our nation’s wildlife and public lands,” charged Jamie Rappaport Clark, President and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.
Rappaport said the riders include a move that could overturn two federal court decisions and strip Endangered Species Act protections for gray wolves in Wyoming and the Great Lakes region, block efforts to crack down on the illegal trade in African elephant ivory and bar conservation measures for bears and other animals on federal lands in Alaska.
“The many riders that plague this bill are varied, but they share a common threat,” added Rappaport. “They all spell disaster for wildlife and they show us that House lawmakers aren’t serious about reaching any agreement with the Senate on an energy bill in the short time remaining in this session.”