EPA restores Bay Journal's funding; had yanked it after editorials criticizing Trump administration policies - Entrepreneur Generations

"The Environmental Protection Agency agreed Thursday to restore $325,000 in funding this year for the Bay Journal, a publication with a print circulation of 50,000 that has covered environmental issues involving the Chesapeake Bay for more than a quarter-century," Juliet Eilperin and Dino Grandoni report for The Washington Post.

EPA grants account for 40 percent of the Journal's budget. But the Journal lost those grants last August, one week after EPA political appointee John Konkus, who was in charge of reviewing grants, told Nick DiPasquale, the now-retired head of the EPA's Chesapeake Bay Program, that the Journal should not have published editorials criticizing Trump administration policies. After DiPasquale retired in January, he started talking to reporters and Konkus' possible motivations came to light.

The Journal appealed to the EPA directly to restore its funding, arguing that the agency had violated the terms of its cooperative agreements. Maryland's two Democratic senators, Benjamin Cardin and Chris Van Hollen, also pressured EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt. The EPA restored funding yesterday, but the Journal has already been hurt: since August the publication has lost two reporters because of the lack of funding.

from The Rural Blog http://ift.tt/2oEYjLq EPA restores Bay Journal's funding; had yanked it after editorials criticizing Trump administration policies - Entrepreneur Generations

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