WurfWhile

Today’s New York Times has a good article on the programs the Bush Administration is minimally funding now, in view of the election, when they earlier had dramatically cut them, or even tried to eliminate them. Given the focus of the article, I am surprised that a second article in today’s paper, the funding for an EPA study of Great Lakes pollution isn’t treated the same spirit. Certainly the Federal money for clean water hasn’t been available for Illinois in recent years. The $270 million Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2002 is a five-year plan that calls for funding of up to $50 million a year, but Bush asked for only $15 million in 2004, and now is asking for only $45 million this year, still under the cap. Even at full funding, the amount is a drop in the bucket compared to proposals that call for up to $6 billion over ten years to protect and clean up the nation’s largest supply of freshwater, that numerous states depend upon for drinking water. As Congressman Rahm Emanuel points out, if Iraq and Florida can get $4 billion in aid for water projects, why can’t the Great Lakes?