TRUMP CUTS TO ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTIONS HURT GREAT LAKES
As Ohio Republicans Like Rob Portman and Dave Joyce Claim to Advocate for Great Lakes, Clean Water Enforcement Is Down
COLUMBUS — Fifty years after Richard Nixon proposed the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency in the wake of the Cuyahoga River catching fire, budget cuts by Republican leaders at the federal and state levels are hurting the Great Lakes, according to a new report by the Environmental Law and Policy Center.
“Since Donald Trump took office, Clean Water Act enforcement has plummeted, and polluters are getting the message that Trump’s EPA won’t hold them accountable,” said Ohio Democratic Party Chairman David Pepper. “The Great Lakes provide one-fifth of the planet’s supply of freshwater, and Lake Erie helps to support more than 100,000 tourism jobs in the eight counties that border the lake. Rob Portman likes to tout all he supposedly does to help Lake Erie, but huge algae blooms that endanger drinking water supplies and hurt tourism continue to happen nearly every year. Portman cares about photo ops and taking credit, but his support for an administration and EPA wreaking havoc on Lake Erie is his real record.”
“Dave Joyce’s claims that he has tried to protect Lake Erie are nothing more than political spin,” said Hillary O’Connor Mueri, Ohio native, Navy combat veteran and Democratic nominee for OH-14. “Trump’s policies are killing Lake Erie, and that equals killing thousands of jobs in Ohio’s 14th Congressional District, while Dave Joyce lets it happen. We need a representative in Washington who will fight for those jobs — not just his own.”
