As Congress looks over President Donald Trump’s budget, U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) is criticizing the administration for proposing a 90% cut to Great Lakes restoration funds. While Trump has backtracked on that proposal, Brown says that kind of cut indicates a bigger problem.
The president told a rally in Michigan that he plans to reverse his position and fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative back to $300 million, after initially proposing a cut to $30 million.
Brown says those changes haven’t been made to the official budget. He adds that Trump’s position on Lake Erie is just another example of the administration’s neglect of environmental issues.
“There’s nobody that I see in this White House that stands up for safe drinking water or clean air. There’s nobody that stands up for preserving wilderness. There’s nobody that stands up to take on one of the most important moral issues of our time, climate change,” says Brown.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) also called for Trump to reverse the proposed budget cut, and said he was glad to see the president decided to fully fund the program.
“The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has been a successful public-private partnership that has been a critical tool in our efforts to help protect and restore Lake Erie,” Portman says.
