"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. The publication 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 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 due to lack of money.
EPA grants account for 40 percent of the Journal's budget. The publication 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 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 due to lack of money.
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