Editorial: Trumps EPA budget cuts an insult to Puget Sound
Today’s not-so-trivial trivia question: On which has the federal government spent more — one Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier or cleanup and habitat restoration projects throughout Puget Sound and other Western Washington coastal waters?
It’s not even close. One new aircraft carrier runs the government $12 billion. Last year, the federal government through the Environmental Protection Agency provided $28 million for projects in the Puget Sound region and southern waters of the Salish Sea. It would take about 428 years of federal support for Puget Sound restoration projects to equal one new carrier.
That’s not to question the importance of carriers to the U.S. Navy, two of which, the Nimitz and the Lincoln, have added much to the economy and community of Everett and Snohomish County.
But it does offer a stark comparison following the release Thursday of President Trump’s federal budget proposal, which seeks to boost military spending next year by $54 billion to $639 billion — and tacks on $2.6 billion for the border wall and another $1.4 billion for school choice programs — at the expense of deep cuts to 19 other federal agencies and other programs. Trump seeks the deepest cuts at the State Department and EPA.
And his budget completely eliminates federal spending on Puget Sound recovery as well as other regional programs elsewhere in the nation, including the Great Lakes and Chesapeake Bay.
http://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/editorial-trumps-epa-budget-cuts-an-insult-to-puget-sound/
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