Dear NRDC Supporter,

President Trump just signed Congressional Republicans’ extremist budget bill. This sweeping new law will raise energy bills for families, auction off our public lands for extraction, and undo years of progress on clean energy and climate action.

This is one of the most dangerous attacks on our environment and our public health in decades. And the consequences will reach every corner of the country.

Let me break down what’s at stake:

• Hundred of millions of acres of public lands are now up for grabs for new oil and gas drilling through mandated lease sales controlled by the fossil fuel industry – including massive swaths of irreplaceable Alaskan wilderness.
• Wildlife habitats face devastating destruction. Critical homes for caribou, grizzly bears, wolves, salmon and other iconic species will be threatened by expanded drilling, mining, and logging, especially in Alaska’s pristine arctic.
• Vast stretches of our oceans are at risk. The bill forces offshore oil and gas leasing in the Gulf of Mexico and off Alaska’s coast, exposing marine life and coastal communities to the danger of oil spills and industrial pollution.
• Energy bills could rise by hundreds of dollars. This new law could saddle American families with hundreds of dollars a year in higher electricity costs within the next decade, at a time when millions of Americans are sweltering under dangerous heat waves.
• It guts our hard-earned clean energy progress. Federal clean energy tax credits that sparked more than $630 billion in investments and created thousands of jobs are now on the chopping block — all to make room for tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.

This law isn’t just extreme, it’s a reckless giveaway to the wealthiest corporations and Big Oil billionaires, paid for by working families and the destruction of our national heritage. It’s one of the most unpopular bills in modern history, yet it was forced through Congress with a simple majority vote along party lines, ignoring the will of the American people.

But this fight is far from over. And NRDC is not standing down.

We are mobilizing every tool we have to protect the places we love, the wildlife that depends on them, and the clean energy future we deserve and we’ve worked so hard to build.

• We are challenging the Trump administration in court. NRDC’s legal team is already in court confronting other environmental attacks by this administration and we still believe the law is our best tool to fight back. Our legal team is assessing every legal avenue to mitigate the worst aspects of this law.
• We are holding polluters accountable. We are taking the fight directly to fossil fuel companies and their funding partners, who for too long have enjoyed a social license to pollute. When the government fails to rein these polluters in, we’ll be there to protect our environment wherever we can — from the courtroom to the board room.
• We are talking directly to lawmakers on Capitol Hill. Our advocates in Washington are pushing lawmakers to block further attacks on our public lands and wildlife, and to safeguard the critical protections that remain.
• We are protecting progress at state and local levels. State capitols and city halls are paramount in the face of devastating federal rollbacks. NRDC’s regional teams will ramp up our work in critical regions to help cities and states act as a xxxxxx against the federal fossil fuel agenda.
• We are keeping the truth front and center. NRDC’s science team is working relentlessly to tell the truth about what’s happening to the environment. We are making sure journalists, activists, policymakers, and any community leaders have the crucial, evidence-based information they need to ensure these environmental attacks don’t escape public scrutiny.

I’ll state it plainly: this is an enormous challenge, a true environmental crisis. But we’ve faced enormous challenges before — and we’ve won.

When past administrations tried to sell out our public lands, we stopped them. When they attempted to gut bedrock environmental protections, we fought back in court and prevailed. When they delivered giveaways to fossil fuel giants on a silver platter, we mobilized millions to stand in their way.

This will be one of the greatest environmental fights of our time. It won’t be easy. But together we are powerful.

With the law, the truth, and millions of determined people like you on our side, we can protect our cherished wild places. We can defend the clean energy future our children deserve. And we can win — again.

Let’s get to work.

With resolve,

Manish Bapna
President, NRDC