Green groups decry looming environmental cuts from debt deal

Some green groups are blasting the deficit deal between the White House and congressional leaders, decrying cuts to environmental programs that they expect to flow from the plan to reduce the deficit by at least $2.1 trillion over a decade.

“The reductions in spending the deal causes will result in massive cuts that threaten to damage our water, our air and our lands beyond repair. This assault is part of a larger effort by some in Congress to give away our great outdoors to corporate polluters and developers, and it’s creating an environmental debt that we can’t repay,” said Wilderness Society President William Meadows.

The legislation that lawmakers are racing to approve in order to avoid default generally does not specify cuts, but groups are bracing for environmental and energy programs to be on the chopping block.

Friends of the Earth President Erich Pica, in a statement, urged lawmakers to reject the deal.

“The agreement threatens the economy, erodes the social safety net, undermines enforcement of crucial environmental laws and limits our nation’s capacity to invest in a brighter future. It is likely to mean more people drinking poisoned water and breathing polluted air, and a slower transition to a clean energy economy,” he said.