‘A poke in the eye’
Politicians outraged at Trump Great Lakes funding cuts
A White House proposal to eliminate all funding for a program protecting the Great Lakes from environmental harm is drawing outrage and calls of resistance from politicians in Canada and the United States.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s inaugural budget calls for slashing all federal funds for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program that helped finance efforts to combat invasive species, control algae blooms and clean up pollution hot spots in one of the world’s largest fresh-water resources.
During former president Barack Obama’s administration, the program generally got about $300 million a year. Trump’s offer is zero. His spending plan urges state and local governments to shoulder responsibility for the Great Lakes instead.
A coalition of Canadian and U.S. mayors representing communities located along the Great Lakes have been quick to denounce the budget proposal and vow to fight to get the money reinstated.
Canadian mayors say the program, which focuses solely on issues originating south of the border, benefited both countries equally as it pumped nearly $2 billion into preservation efforts over the past seven years.
They say the initiative has earned bipartisan support over the years and say they hope the U.S. congress will be able to overturn the White House decision.
Members of the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, a coalition of 128 municipalities on both sides of the border, were particularly vocal in condemning the move to scrap American funding.
“It’s like a poke in the eye with a sharp stick,” executive director David Ullrich said in an interview. “Very vindictive and mean-spirited is what it is ... And morally, it’s reprehensible because this is something we need to leave to future generations in good shape.”
Ullrich said the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative has done considerable work since its inception in 2010, consistently coughing up $250 million to $300 million a year to support local governments in their preservation work.
He said the fund has helped clean up toxic hot spots throughout the Great Lakes and worked to limit nutrient run-off that can create harmful algal blooms.