by Eric Guzy
Donald Trump’s campaign in Erie, Pennsylvania left many wide bright perspectives for the future of the hometown great lake. Promises of economic recovery were stated with strong confidence and passion, but only to be met with the exact opposite come time to take action. Residents of Erie were heart-broken to here that the budget for the great lake’s restoration from $300 million to a mere $30 million. The great lakes restoration project was an Obama administration initiative to provide fresh water to over 40 million people. This funding has allowed for local great lake initiative projects to prevent the pollution and runoff of local creeks and waterways running off into the lakes. The health of the lakes (in Erie specifically) depends on the funding that is allotted to help prevent such forms of pollution from being a problem. Pollution would also be a detriment to Erie’s tourism industry which could be a deficit of up to $1 million. This would take away even more potential funding for the lake and would even further perpetuate the issue of pollution in the lake. Pennsylvania representatives have been working rigorously to ensure that the funding for the great lakes initiative. In the Obama administration as well budget cuts were sought, just not as drastic. This does however show a lack of awareness in the White House for the issue of environmental affairs and should be addressed.
The American Partnership 
It’s no surprise that trump would try to budget this project’s cost because he is simply not interested in this sort of restoration. Trump has revised a lot of eco friendly projects already in his first year of presidency and it’s a shame that he re allocated money out of Pennsylvania. Since this probably will cause more pollution in that area, the country is stepping another step backwards not just in protecting against pollution but in protecting natural resources. In Pennsylvania’s case I hope trump doesn’t eliminate other projects or proposals because it could become to late establish a decision. I know that President Trump wants to change our economy as a whole by cutting back and being stiff with certain payments, but there are other precautions that he can take. Tourism is going down so that’s less tax money the state is receiving, so in turn the president isn’t recovering any money from this. All in all, I hope Congress realizes that yes, a strong economy will set us apart but diminishing our environment around us? Not sure what this entails for the rest of the country
It is very evident that the White House has different priorities and the environment just is not one of them. I think that it is a shame that $300 million was allotted to this project and it was moved to $30 million with the Trump administration. It is a shame that with two different presidents thats things change is polar opposite views. Clearly the Obama administration saw a reason to allot so much money to a campaign designed to give over 40 million people drinking water and the Trump administration basically disrespected that whole concern. The people Erie residents should be disappointed in our president.
SO I went to click on the article linked above to read it… But I was taken to an article titled “106 million people watched ‘M*A*S*H’ finale 35 years ago. No scripted show since has come close.” I of course am okay with this because it is the best show America has ever seen, with Game of Thrones coming in a second because John Snow is no Hawkeye Pierce.
Back to the actual article… I think that is it fair to assume that most statements made by people campaigning for office will not come true… I do believe that in order for the US to have better economic development, regulations must be made more obtainable in the Green Sectors and and stricter in the Not-Green Sector to encourage the economic and technological transition needed. Whether this includes cutting 290 Million $ that would go towards cleaning the Lake, I am not sure. Possibly the money could be cut and the project saved by heavily increasing restrictions/fines on polluting in the area and in the waterways leading into the lake. This could initially decrease industry in the area but would long-term push it into the direction it needs to be heading for a sustainable future.
Just because the money is cut, the possibility of a better lake is not lost…
I think that one of the ideas that we learned from class that applies here is political affiliation impacts what issues matter. In other words, President Trump is more focused on creating jobs and a stronger economy while in contrast former President Obama focused more on sustainability and environmental action policies. I think that while President Trump seems to have good intentions for the economy, I do not think that he is taking the issue of the environment seriously. One statement someone could make is that environmental issues are just a hoax. Others will argue that environmental policies are a step in the right direction. I personally think that it would not hurt anyone to find common sense solutions to pollution and other environmental issues. Essentially, we as a society need to stop arguing about who is right and who is wrong and come to a common ground on these issues.
Under Trump’s presidency environmental policies has been the worst negatively impacted in a while. It’s disappointing that the money was taken away from this project that was allocated to help not only pollution, but for run-off pollution as well; the people of Erie could possibly be subjected to effects of the run-off pollution. America knew Obama and Trump clearly have different views on the environment, but I don’t think anyone thought it would effect environmental projects this bad. Personally, I just thought he wouldn’t of even have touched any bills for the environment, just simply ignored them. But, I am wrong since he has made it his priority to disassemble everything Obama put together for the better of our earth.
It is rare that every President will take office and keep all of the old existing President’s plan in place. They ran for the Presidency to change the way things are currently going and from their point of view to “better them”. President Trump does not feel that the environmental policies should be at the top of his focus because of his attention to other issues and I do not think this means he doesn’t care about the environment. Society should be focusing on how to fix this issue and get their voices heard rather then bash Trump.. He does not care… Everyone knew he was not going to continue with this so I think that other plans should be attempted to put in place instead of acting surprised about Trump’s actions as President.
I completely agree with Lauren and Danielle’s points. It is expected that the words of a person campaigning for office are not always followed through once in office.Needles to say, it is important to understand where the money that has been removed from this project is now going to. Not justifying the budget change, however, I feel it would bring an interesting point to the conversation. I also liked the fact that some comments touched on Trump’s focus. For his campaign, environmental policies are not at the forefront and therefore actions like this should be expected. The concept of “Make America great again” which is the entire essence of his presidency, is predominantly related to national security and more of the “hard” issues as opposed tot he “soft” ones such as environmental policy.