Last week, voters sent a clear message: they want accountability, a government that works, and real checks on power. While hope is on the horizon, we must be clear-eyed about what comes next.
Over the past week, the administration has shown how dangerous it will be in its final two years. Here are two examples. The Interior Department just released a strategic plan to sell off public lands, shrink the career workforce, and expand drilling and mining while shutting the public out of decision-making. Meanwhile, a White House attorney threatened to open criminal investigations into members of Congress who call for investigations of the executive branch of government.
So our work must continue at full force. A new Congress gives us an opportunity to advance new ideas and solutions to the environmental and public health problems we face. And despite threats, we will continue to call for oversight that exposes the corruption that has descended on our government.
Onward,
Tim Whitehouse
Executive Director
P.S. As you plan your year-end gift to PEER, please consider becoming a monthly donor.
Parks and Wildlife Overhaul
PEER warns that the sweeping “realignment” of the National Park Service and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service repeats the defining pattern of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum’s tenure: major decisions made behind closed doors, without Congress, without the public, and without evidence they will work. Read More »
Entrenching Livestock in National Forests
PEER is raising concerns about the Forest Service’s proposed new grazing rules. They would open ungrazed parts of national forests to livestock, cost taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars a year, and unlawfully prioritize grazing over wildlife habitat, clean water, and recreation. Read More »