The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

Illinois PIRG asks you to help reduce mercury pollution


Dear Illinois PIRG supporter,

Over the past three months, I've told you about the EPA's weak proposal to reduce the danger posed by mercury from power plants, which sets targets so weak that the energy industry will be allowed to continue polluting without using state of the art mercury controls. You have responded with over 17,700 official comments to the EPA and over 200 letters to the editor nationwide urging the EPA to protect mothers and children from mercury poisoning by cutting mercury emissions from power plants by 90 percent by 2008. Thank you (and don't forget to let me know if your letter to the editor got printed).

This is the last week of the comment period on the EPA's proposal and we want to collect over 20,000 comments, but to do that I need your help. If you haven't sent in your comments yet, please take a moment to do so. And after you send in your comments, get two other people to send in their comments by forwarding this e-mail to your family and friends.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=223&id4=ES

Thanks again!


Background

Mercury is a dangerous toxic metal that can cause severe neurological and developmental problems in unborn fetuses and very young children whose brains are still developing. People are exposed to mercury mainly by eating fish. The EPA and forty-three states have now issued advisories warning people, especially women and children, to avoid or limit eating local fish because of mercury. But even with these warnings, the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention and the EPA estimate that 1 out of 6 U.S. women of childbearing age have unsafe levels of mercury in their blood due to fish consumption.

The best way to protect women and children from mercury is to eliminate it from its largest source: power plants. Smokestacks spew mercury pollution into the air, where it rains and snows down into our waterways, accumulating in fish and making them unsafe to eat. Amazingly, power plants have yet to be regulated for mercury pollution under federal clean air standards. Two years ago, the EPA's own scientists said current technologies could achieve a 90 percent reduction of mercury from power plants, but the electric and coal industries are pressing hard to avoid limiting their mercury emissions.

After years of work by us and other public health advocates, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is now under a deadline to reduce the dangers of mercury from power plants.

Last December, the EPA's initial weak proposal to reduce the danger posed by mercury from power plants was released. Amazingly, they are indicating they'll reclassify mercury so that it's not considered a "toxic pollutant," despite long-standing, clear evidence of mercury's effects as a developmental toxin. This will allow them to avoid requiring power plants to use the best available technology to reduce emissions, as stipulated by the Clean Air Act.

But the Bush administration is feeling the immense public outcry about its inadequate proposal for addressing power plant emissions of mercury. In March, EPA Administrator Leavitt made an announcement that the administration would begin studying options for strengthening the rule and extended the mercury proposal comment period to April 30. Administrator Leavitt's statement cited recent EPA studies showing that loopholes in the EPA's proposal would prevent the rule from meeting its weak goals, which would allow 6-7 times more pollution than properly enforcing the Clean Air Act.

This is the last week for you to comment on this weak mercury proposal. Please take a moment to send in your comments, and then ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, click on this link or paste it into your web browser:
http://pirg.org/alerts/route.asp?id=223&id4=ES

Sincerely,

Diane E. Brown
Illinois PIRG Executive Director
DianeB@illinoispirg.org
http://www.IllinoisPIRG.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support.