Your weekly resource to learn what the environmental movement is saying about the news of the day and the political fight of our generation. This week, we’re covering environmental groups’ lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s offshore drilling ambitions, congressional Democrats pushing back against the administration and extreme Senate Republicans, and more chaos and confusion out of the executive branch.
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“Their goal is to take money away from clean energy, take money from disadvantaged communities, and give it to the fossil fuel companies and special interests.”
— Senator Ed Markey on Senate Republicans’ budget resolution.
“Donald Trump is waging a concerted war against energy projects and he’s killing jobs.”
— Senator Tim Kaine, during a press conference pushing back against President Trump’s national energy emergency declaration.
“We are a nation of laws, not ruled by a king. We’ll see you in court.”
— Governor Kathy Hochul of New York in response to President Trump rescinding approval for NYC’s congestion pricing program in a post on Truth Social in which he referred to himself as “the king.”
NEW JERSEY AND VIRGINIA LCV ENDORSE CLIMATE LEADERS IN GOVERNORS RACES: With elections for governor upcoming in New Jersey and Virginia this year, our state affiliates have endorsed candidates who will be leaders in the fight for people and the planet. New Jersey League of Conservation Voters endorsed U.S. Representative Mikie Sherrill for governor, and Virginia League of Conservation Voters endorsed former U.S. Representative Abigail Spanberger for governor.
NEW JERSEY LCV TAKE: New Jersey LCV Executive Director Ed Potosnak said, “Based on Mikie Sherrill’s outstanding record of environmental leadership in Congress, New Jersey LCV has concluded she is far and away the best candidate to deliver bold environmental policy leadership that will make a crucial difference in fighting the climate crisis, lowering energy costs, and protecting our environment and every New Jersey family’s right to breathe clean air and drink pure water. At a time when our environment is under unprecedented attack from Donald Trump, Congresswoman Sherrill has the courage to stand up for New Jersey’s working families against dirty oil and gas CEOs. And she has the ability to unite people across New Jersey from all walks of life around a shared vision of a brighter and more prosperous future for us all.”
VALCV TAKE: Virginia League of Conservation Voters Executive Director Michael Town said, “Progress has been elusive the past four years with a governor hell-bent on pleasing a radical base and his corporate polluter friends. Under a new ‘Conservation Majority’ we get to go back to work pushing forward popular policies that protect our environment and secure a clean and affordable energy future for all Virginians. We are all-in to elect Spanberger and return environmental champions to the House of Delegates – our future is on the ballot.”
CHISPA BUILDS POWER IN NORTHERN NEVADA: Last week, Chispa Nevada’s Program Director, Audrey Peral, joined northern Nevada leaders for a Spanish-language listening session on Solar For All—creating space for comunidad to share their voices on expanding clean energy access.
ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS SUE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVER DRILLING EXECUTIVE ORDER: LCV and several other environmental groups joined a lawsuit challenging a Trump executive order that seeks to overturn permanent withdrawals from future oil and gas leasing in parts of the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans. In 2019, a judge overturned a similar executive order from the first Trump administration. Learn more about the new lawsuit and read statements from each of the plaintiffs.
OUR TAKE: LCV President Gene Karpinski said, “We shouldn’t have to file our suit again because President Trump already lost the last time he tried this. We are signaling to Congress, the President and the people of this country our commitment to defending already-protected coastal communities and waters from risky and dirty offshore drilling.”
SENATORS HEINRICH, KAINE PUSH BACK ON TRUMP’S ENERGY “EMERGENCY”: LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld joined Senators Martin Heinrich (D-NM) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) for a press conference on Wednesday challenging President Trump’s sham national energy “emergency” declaration.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “We are NOT in an energy emergency. In fact, Trump inherited a thriving clean energy economy with more than 400,000 new jobs and more cheaper and cleaner energy than ever before. Yet Trump and Musk are desperate to impound, freeze, and repeal the very clean energy investments that lower energy bills and create jobs – the majority of which are in districts currently represented by Republicans – so they can pay for tax cuts for their billionaire buddies. Trump and Musk are firing civil servants who help keep our electricity grid safe and secure and gutting clean energy industries that employ thousands of other workers. And Trump and Musk are threatening our air and water and pushing to open up our most precious public lands for permanent destruction so Trump can make good on his promise to Big Oil CEOs to drill, drill, drill.”
HEINRICH TAKE: Senator Martin Heinrich said, “Trump’s fake emergency declaration is causing enormous uncertainty. If you’re thinking about opening a new factory, you don’t know what your tax structure will be in the next 12 months. If you’re trying to site and build a new transmission line, the federal agencies you work with just had a ton of their expert staff sacked, making it more difficult to get a permit. This is going to kill skilled trades jobs and drive up the cost of your electricity bills by as much at $480 a year by 2030. Trump’s war on affordable, American-made energy is killing jobs and raising costs on working families.”
KAINE TAKE: Senator Tim Kaine said, “We are producing more energy now than at any other point in our history and the U.S. is the envy of the world when it comes to energy innovation and production. The passage of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act have accelerated clean energy projects and created jobs, and we are on an amazing trajectory. Trump’s sham emergency threatens to screw all of that up. Why? Because he’d rather benefit Big Oil and suspend environmental protections than lower costs and create jobs for the American people. I hope my colleagues will join me in voting to terminate President Trump’s emergency.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION THREATENS TO REPEAL NYC CONGESTION PRICING: President Trump pulled the federal government’s approval for New York City’s congestion pricing program, which has been delivering cleaner air for NYC residents. The revenue from this program is earmarked to make much needed infrastructure and accessibility improvements for public transportation in the city, and repealing it now puts those projects in jeopardy.
NYLCV TAKE: New York LCV President Julie Tighe said, “The Trump administration is choosing to support gridlock over people. Blocking congestion pricing is a betrayal of New Yorkers, especially the millions of working-class people who take the buses, subways, and trains every day. This program is already delivering results: shorter commutes for drivers, safer streets, and critical investments in mass transit across the region – and is gaining more public support as its benefits grow. We need the federal government to be a partner in solving congestion, not a roadblock. New Yorkers deserve relief from traffic, better transit, and cleaner air – we will keep fighting for it every day.”
DOE APPROVES FIRST NEW LNG EXPORT PROJECT IN OVER A YEAR: Despite their own report that shows ramping up LNG exports is not in the country’s best economic, environmental, or national security interest, the Department of Energy has given conditional approval to a new LNG export project. The proposed project would be located in Cameron Parish, Louisiana, a community that already suffers from disproportionate levels of pollution and high cancer risk. It is the first LNG export project approved by DOE since the Biden administration paused the approval of new projects in January 2024.
SENATE VOTES ON POLLUTERS’ AND BILLIONAIRES’ WISHLIST BUDGET RESOLUTION: Thursday afternoon through early Friday morning, senators debated and voted on Senate Republicans’ FY25 budget resolution, including many amendments from Senate Democrats illustrating how the bill prioritizes tax breaks for the rich and polluters over people. This budget resolution would increase families’ energy costs, reduce our global competitiveness in manufacturing clean technologies, and cause devastating harm to our communities. During the voting, LCV sent several vote recommendation group letters to senators, as well as a letter asking them to oppose the FY25 budget resolution.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Vice President of Government Affairs Tiernan Sittenfeld said, “Senate Republicans have made abundantly clear with this budget resolution that they are prioritizing polluter profits over hardworking families across the country. Cutting billions of dollars in funding for clean energy and energy efficiency, eliminating penalties for fossil fuel companies that fail to reduce their dangerous methane pollution, and selling off our public lands to the highest bidder will result in higher energy bills, the loss of good-paying jobs, and dirtier air and water. So who wins? Billionaires and Big Polluters padding their record profits. Instead of rolling back access to necessary programs and benefits that make everyday necessities more affordable and funding mass deportations and immigration raids in schools and other community spaces, Congress should be safeguarding these essential programs and stopping President Trump and Elon Musk’s illegal power grab and program cuts. We urge the Senate to oppose this harmful budget resolution.”
TAKE 2: From a letter urging senators to oppose Senator Mike Lee’s amendment #922, “This amendment would require both houses of Congress to affirmatively approve all significant new agency actions to protect the environment, workers, consumers, and public health before they take effect. This is nothing more than a tool for polluters and other corporate interests to scuttle new health and environmental safeguards. Furthermore, Congress already has the first word on agency rulemaking, having already provided the authority to federal agencies. This would effectively delay or even shut down the implementation of existing laws, which could mean more premature deaths, illnesses, and other health impacts on people at the hands of polluters dumping toxins into our air and water. At a time when public protections are already at severe risk due to budget cuts, staff firings and intimidation, and scientific research is being eroded, the public cannot risk additional limitations to the power of the government to protect us.”
SENATE CONFIRMS KASH PATEL AS FBI DIRECTOR: The Senate confirmed vindictive conspiracy theorist Kash Patel to lead the powerful Federal Bureau of Investigations in a 51-49 vote. Prior to the vote, LCV sent a letter to senators urging them to oppose his nomination.
OUR TAKE: LCV Senior Director of Judiciary & Democracy Doug Lindner said, “Kash Patel is not only profoundly unqualified to lead the FBI, he is a threat to our freedoms, our civil liberties, our democracy, and our security. To protect clean air, clean water, and a sustainable future, we need highly qualified, ethical public officials committed to protecting the people’s freedoms, respecting the rule of law, and ensuring equal justice for all. Patel’s loyalty to Donald Trump above the Constitution, his support for convicted insurrectionists, his alleged participation in ongoing FBI political purges, and his threats to weaponize the FBI against perceived political enemies demonstrate that he is an agent of political revenge, not public safety. Senators must protect the rights of people by rejecting Patel’s dangerous nomination and insisting on an FBI Director who works for the people, not just Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the Big Polluters.”
TRUMP ADMINISTRATION OVERSEES MASS FIRINGS: Over the last few weeks, President Trump and Elon Musk have overseen dramatic and likely illegal cuts to the federal workforce, including almost 400 EPA employees, 2,300 at the Interior Department, around 1,800 at the Department of Energy, 3,400 at the U.S. Forest Service, as well as 10% of NASA’s staff and hundreds of employees at the Department of Transportation. These mass firings are impacting people all across the country – from park rangers to people who work on powerlines. Without people in these jobs, communities may lose services they rely on, putting their safety, health, and economic wellbeing at risk.
ON THE BLOG: Stay tuned for more exciting and informative content, coming up on The Power Source Blog!
ON OUR SOCIALS: Suspicious Senate budget resolutions, LCV launching a lawsuit against the Trump administration, the firing of federal employees (and here), the real cost of Trump’s cuts, and more, this week on our socials.
FEBRUARY 28: Ramadan begins at sunset.
MARCH 8: International Women’s Day.
MARCH 14: Government funding runs out.
MARCH 20: First day of spring!
©2025 League of Conservation Voters