U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service-Northeast Region/Flickr
July 25, 2013
A Great Lakes environmental cleanup program is facing an 80 percent budget cut in the House of Representatives.
The program is dedicated to combatting invasive species, restoring wetlands, and improving beaches. Its funding could be slashed from 285-million to just 60-million-dollars.
Todd Ambs of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition says such drastic cuts will only create bigger problems. “It’s not like any of these challenges go away if you cut the funding. These are problems that persist and if we don’t address them now they will simply cost more later.”
Ambs says more than 30-million people rely on the Great Lakes for drinking water, jobs, and recreational use.
A vote is expected next week to decide whether the bill will reach the house floor in the fall.