Washington - Today, House Committee on Natural Resources Ranking Member Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) led a letter to Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ) Chair Brenda Mallory, requesting further information on how CEQ will implement the $1 billion "America the Beautiful Challenge," a rebranded 30x30 Initiative. In part, the members wrote:
"As Americans face skyrocketing prices at the gas pump and rampant price inflation for essentials, like groceries, it is alarming that the Biden administration would propose $1 billion in new spending that will only exacerbate President Biden’s inflation and energy crises and sink our nation further into debt. Ironically, this new billion-dollar government spending program was announced the day before the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that inflation hit a 40-year high of 8.5 percent in March 2022. Specifically, the price of gas rose 48 percent in the past year, due in large part to the Biden administration’s energy-killing policies and harmful overregulation. Moreover, the Biden administration’s repeated failings to maximize domestic energy production not only hurts our national security and economy, but also jeopardizes funding for numerous conservation programs reliant on fossil fuel revenues. It is troubling that instead of ensuring the longevity of these existing conservation programs, this administration is now creating new, vaguely defined spending programs."
