With reports that unpopular orange-tinted President Donald Trump and Republicans plan on obliterating the EPA’s budget this coming year, many of the people who voted for him might be getting a rude awakening. States like Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin enjoy the waters of the Great Lakes, and the EPA is one of those agencies that tries to ensure that those lakes can be enjoyable for generations to come.
The National Association of Clean Air Agencies confirmed for the Free Press late Thursday that an initial proposal from the White House Office of Management and Budget calls for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to be cut from $300 million a year to about $10 million.
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If the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is targeted for such a drastic reduction — and it is by far the largest dollar cut on Davis’ partial list from the association’s data — it would decimate a program that has helped pay to restore wetlands and improve water quality across the Upper Midwest.
Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio and Pennsylvania — Great Lakes states that backed Trump in the election last year — have all received funding under the initiative, which many lawmakers of both parties in the region have steadfastly supported even when other Republicans have moved to reduce it.
An example of what an environmental initiative like this does can be seen in the restoration of the fish habitat and a pier at Detroit’s Belle Isle. It costs money to undo decades, and sometimes centuries, of environmental damage caused by a lack of knowledge and regulations.