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Online letters to the editor: 6/22

Online letters to the editor: 6/22

Editor’s note: These letters to the editor were published only online. To send a letter to the editor, visit toledoblade.com/letterstoeditor.

Kaptur makes a stand for lake

After President Trump released his proposed budget that cuts EPA funding by 30 percent, both Republicans and Democrats around the country worried about what will happen to the safety of drinking water. Thankfully, Rep. Marcy Kaptur pushed back on the proposed cuts at an appropriations committee hearing on the EPA budget, where Scott Pruitt testified.

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Rep. Kaptur started off her speech by expressing her strong opposition to the budget in general: “America really can’t afford to shortchange our environment and our health. … The budget before us is unacceptable. … This is the lowest budget request we’ve had in 40 years.” She went on to explain the specific threats posed to clean water, especially the waterways in Ohio. She explained the need to protect the largest body of freshwater on earth, the Great Lakes, saying, “We have an increasing population in our country now. We’re at 326 million, and the world is at 7.5 billion. They’re not making any more freshwater.”

She later spoke of the effects the budget cuts would have on the Black River cleanup and the water quality of Lake Erie, citing the Toledo Water Crisis as a key example of the dire effects pollution can have. Citing both the elimination of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the additional $50 million in cuts to other funds, Katpur said she and others in Ohio were concerned that the progress on the Black River would be entirely reversed.

As other Representatives praised Mr. Pruitt and the new administration for weakening water protections, Rep. Kaptur repeatedly expressed concerns over the American public’s health and safety if the budget cuts pass. Ohioans are very lucky to have a representative who defends their clean water in the face of strong opposition and special interests, and now we need to urge Sens. Sherrod Brown and Rob Portman to follow in her path.

NATASHA STATZ-GEARY

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Gloucester, Mass.

Clean up the downtown area

I was recently in the downtown library looking up something for my daughter.

Employees there were very helpful, and I found what I was looking for quickly. But when I walked around and went outside, the sidewalks and War of the Rebellion monument were in disrepair. Another monument needed cleaning. Come on Toledo, shape up!

ROBERT A. GROH

Maumee

First Published June 22, 2017, 8:45 p.m.

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