Representative Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-NJ) sponsored H.R. 2609, the Energy and Water Development and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2014, which would continue to subsidize dirty fossil fuels while cutting funding for renewable energy and energy efficiency and would threaten America’s streams and wetlands by undermining the Clean Water Act. H.R. 2609 would cut funding for renewable energy projects and research at the Department of Energy by 50 percent, including an 81 percent cut to the ARPA-E program and a $220 million cut to the Office of Science. The bill also includes damaging policy riders that would lock in antiquated definitions of “fill material” and what constitutes “waters of the United States,” endangering streams and wetlands that Americans rely on for drinking water and flood prevention. On July 10, the House approved H.R. 2609 by a vote of 227-198 (House roll call vote 345).  NO IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE. The FY14 omnibus appropriations funding bill signed into law by President Obama on January 17, 2014 included greater funding levels for renewable energy and energy efficiency; however, it also included the harmful policy rider relating to the definition of “fill material.”