If you thought that DC was the only place where polluters help write the environmental laws, think again. It's happening in Harrisburg, PA!
The utility industry and the Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry have launched a fierce attack against the Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) rule that would require power plants to cut their toxic mercury pollution by 90 %. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin that can interfere with the proper development of babies' brains.
Last week industry lobbyists flocked to the PA capitol with a bill they helped write that would stop DEP from moving ahead with the PA rule and require us instead to fall back on the weak federal rule. They rounded up 121 co-sponsors for their bill - HB 2610. A similar operation in the Senate this week resulted in a bill being introduced there - SB 1201.
A firestorm has erupted over this bill and so far, four of the 121 have withdrawn their support. But that's not enough.
Take action today and email your Representative and Senator and let them know you want dirty power plants to cut toxic mercury pollution. Help protect the health of women and their babies: Send an email to your representative and senator today and tell them to oppose HB 2610 and SB 1201. Tell them not only to vote no on these bills but to remove their name if they have signed onto this polluter's dream legislation.
Get the Facts on Mercury and power plant pollution, the recent science, reports, and articles.
You don't live in PA? Want to see change on a national level?
Write to President Bush and tell him to enforce the law and require power plants to reduce toxic air pollution as quickly as possible! The analysis of his own EPA has told him to do so.
Think this issue does not apply to you? Think again. Put in your address and with this Power Plant Air Pollution Locator find out what kind of air you are breathing and what you can do to protect yourself and your family.
PA's coal-fired power plants are the second dirtiest in the nation for mercury pollution. We also have a serious and widespread mercury contamination problem. The Fish and Boat Commission has issued warnings to limit eating fish caught in any PA lake, river or stream because of high levels of mercury in fish. Mercury is a powerful neurotoxin and poses a serious health threat to developing babies. Babies exposed to too much mercury in their mother's bodies can be born with learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, coordination problems and even mental retardation.
The PA Department of Environmental Protection is trying to adopt new rules to require coal-fired power plants to reduce their mercury pollution by 90 percent by 2015. 2015 is years earlier and more protective that what would happen under the Bush Administration mercury regulations.
UPDATE 5/3: Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy and Republican Senator Susan Collins have introduced a bipartisan joint resolution to reject the Bush administration recently issued rules on mercury. These new rules let
polluters off easy and delay mercury reductions until 2018. Contact your senator and tell them to Save the Clean Air Act and stop the polluting.
As a woman of childbearing age, this issue really concerns me. There's really no good reason to allow mercury to belch out of smokestacks except for industry greed-- bigger profit margins. Pennsylvania is stuck in the rut economically, losing population, and rapidly losing young people (like me!) to states with a simple vision: quality of life for their residents.
All the facts clearly point to the need for action on mercury NOW. These bills in the PA Legislature are prime examples of industry pals writing the rules, spreading around campaign money in a tough election year, and nasty political spin.
Everyone I talk to about this issue is infuriated. Mercury controls are out there, working well on modern plants in other states, and need to be in Pennsylvania as soon as possible.
Speak out! Don't let business as usual happen.
Posted by: Heather at April 20, 2006 02:05 PMThe federal mercury rule is at best a cruel hoax, much like all of the other Bush Administration's environmental spin: slap a friendly name on a rule that does exactly opposite what it claims to be doing.
I guess PA's legislators have taken their cue from the masters of deception in DC. The bills they are proposing stop all progress on this critical issue, and leave Pennsylvania with the horrible federal rule.
This means that we won't see any action on reducing mercury for decades-- and then, only 70% reduction, which the Congressional Research Council has analyzed and determined won't really happen until 2030. Meanwhile, we have retardation and autism rates skyrocketing. Hmmm.... any connection there??? Let's all sit around for the next 25 years and soak up the mercury.
Posted by: Laura K. at April 20, 2006 02:12 PMThe Pennsylvania Legislature is in for a rude awakening come May 16th. These good old boys should know that we are tired of their backroom deals and industry handouts at every turn.
Everyone I know knows about the mercury issue-- and really thinks it's a problem. Once the word gets out that these bozos are now trying to keep the mercury pumping out into our rivers and lakes, I predict this will only be one more nail in the coffin for those legislators that seem to do nothing but put their own fat wallets and the profit reports of their corporate backers over the people who elect them.
Posted by: Jake at April 20, 2006 02:17 PMThis is all about greed and fear. The power companies don't want to spend extra money to clean up their toxic pollution, or they want to be able to sell credits if they do. Legislators don't want to pass up the big campaign contributions they get from utilities and the Chamber of Business and Industry. They are afraid of the indusstry types who will reward or punish them if they vote the way they want or go against them. They ought to be more worried about the average people who don't want to be dumped on by toxic mercury pollution who actually vote for them.
Posted by: Katherine at April 21, 2006 09:00 AMIt is a moral value to protect abused children.
It is a moral value to be faithful stewards of our environment.
It is a moral value to protect the lives of our babies from toxins.
It is a moral value to conserve God's gift of natural resources.
It is a moral value to speak out in the face of deceitful policies.
It is a moral value to serve those that serve us, our service members.
It is a moral value to promote healthy families.
Some say that the last election was decided on values. And I say that is true; It is becoming evident from the results of that election that the values preached are not the values practiced.
As citizens it is our responsibility to show them how it's done.
Posted by: Joe at April 25, 2006 08:45 PMI say, shut the plants down if they dont want to comply with enviromental protection standards. There should a council set up to check for these things and it should be an iron fist that is uncompromising. The health of our nations' youth should be important but more important should be our Ozone layer which is being depleted away as we speak. Of course its just not the current Administration but it seems to me that its not very high on any politicians list (I mean after they actually get into office and have to do something productive). My line is get a no non-sense EPA head that is highly scrutnized by a council of Enviromental Green Tree Huggers and hash out a full inspection and emissions restriction bill that will help to fix this. The problem again with our government is that we dont have enough "Special teamers" that are great and efficient at certain things and they are replaced by incompitent Brown-eyed politicians who in the end are only out for their own legacy and couldnt care less about getting things done. Again, I hate to mull over unsolvable problems but thats the way I see it.
Posted by: Lester at April 25, 2006 11:21 PMMercury? One of the many reasons why I turned vegan..........
My prediction? 1/2 of the US has some form of cancer by 2050.
-Philly
Posted by: Philly at April 26, 2006 08:05 PM