"For years, the Trump administration wanted to slash its funding. Now it’s boasting about pouring millions of dollars into it.

The Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday rolled out a five-year plan for funding a popular program for restoring the Great Lakes, even though in the not-so-distant past the Trump administration tried to ax the environmental initiative almost entirely.

The turnabout comes as President Trump faces a tough reelection race that will require him to win several Midwestern states along the Great Lakes shoreline if he is to retain the White House in 2020.

EPA chief Andrew Wheeler toured one of those states, Michigan, this week to tout the EPA program, which will dole out grants to nonprofit groups, local governments and other federal agencies to shrink toxic algae blooms, restore wetland habitat and prevent invasive Asian carp in the Mississippi River system from entering Lake Michigan."

Dino Grandoni reports for the Washington Post October 23, 2019. [2]