President Trump. Photo: Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images
The House approved the Great American Outdoors Act on Wednesday, setting aside $900 million in federal oil and gas revenues for the Land and Water Conservation Fund, The Hill reports.
Why it matters: The bipartisan legislation comes with President Trump's support, even though he previously proposed cutting LWCF's budget by roughly 97%, The Hill notes. His reversal comes as the 2020 election inches closer.
- Given that the bill passed the Senate last month, the legislation now awaits Trump’s signature.
- The LWCF was permanently authorized last year, but its funding was never made certain.
- The bill will also allocate billions of dollars to address a maintenance backlog at national parks over the course of five years.
Our thought bubble, via Axios' Amy Harder: Conservation funding and support for national parks has always evaded the partisan acrimony that has plagued the related issues of climate change and energy, largely because the former doesn't require fundamental changes to the way our economy and energy systems run, as the latter does.
What we're watching: Expect Trump, and Republicans in tight reelection campaigns like Sen. Cory Gardner (R-Colo.), to cite this as a GOP victory on the environment, despite it being a decidedly bipartisan effort.