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Beyer Looks For Allies To Save Chesapeake Bay Funding

Chesapeake Bay Foundation

As President Trump continues to call for spending cuts, congressional Democrats are trying to keep environmental protection funding flowing towards the Chesapeake.

President Trump's first budget to Congress called for eliminating the Chesapeake Bay Restoration Fund. Then a few weeks ago the White House released this year’s budget which called for deep cuts to agencies that deal with climate change and the environment.

As lawmakers now start the process to fund the government for next year Virginia Democratic Congressman Don Beyer is teaming up with some of his colleagues early in the process to block those cuts.  

Credit United States Congress / Wikimedia Commons
Rep. Don Beyer

“When year after year the planet keeps getting warmer and warmer, year after year there’s a growing consensus that climate change is real, it’s manmade and we should do something about it," Beyer said. "We need to do something on coastal resilience. Norfolk and Virginia Beach are sinking. Tides keep rising.”

Beyer says proposals to cut funding for national treasures like theChesapeake Bay watershed or even the Great Lakes are fiercely opposed in Congress. “The good news is there are bipartisan coalitions representing both areas that will fight this and will fight back.”

Beyer is teaming up with another five lawmakers to try to build a coalition to protect regions most vulnerable to sea level rise, even as some officials in the administration deny climate change is accelerating the problem.

This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.