House revives Sea Grant program, marked for extinction by Trump
The National Sea Grant College program, targeted for elimination in the Trump budget, has gained new life in Congress. The House Appropriations Committee, on Thursday, quietly approved $63 million for Sea Grant, used by 33 university-based programs that work on issues ranging from tsunami preparedness to aquaculture, as well as education programs on a raft of water-safety issues. Lawmakers from coastal states and Great Lakes states have fought to save Sea Grant. A Washington lawmaker, Rep. Derek Kilmer, D-Wash., has pulled above his weight on the issue. Kilmer, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, represents much of the Washington coast as well as towns along the Strait of Juan de Fuca, Hood Canal and the west side of Puget Sound. He has argued that Sea Grant is America's only national-research outreach and education program addressing environmental issues in local.
By: Joel Connelly
Source: SeattlePI