Help Fight Toxic Mercury Pollution

What the Rules Will Do:


Last March, the Bush administration finalized two rules that do too
little, too late to reduce mercury pollution from power plants, the
largest man-made source of mercury emissions in the U.S.  



The
first rule (the “delisting rule”) takes power plants off the list for
strict controls on their emissions of mercury and other toxic air
pollutants. This paves the way for the second rule, an industry-favored
“cap-and-trade” plan that lets power plants buy and sell the right to
pollute mercury. Such a trading scheme increases the risk of mercury
“hot spots” around plants that choose to buy mercury credits rather
than reduce their pollution. Environmental Defense along with a number
of other leading environmental groups has recently filed lawsuits
against both of these rules.  



These new rules will:



– Allow overall mercury pollution levels in the western United States to rise until 2018;



– Permit
mercury pollution to increase above current levels between now and 2018
in the following western states: Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, Utah, North
Dakota, and South Dakota; and



– Exempt
coal-fired power plants from protections under the Clean Air Act that
require each plant to lower mercury pollution by the maximum amount
achievable.



– Increase the risk of “hot spots” of high mercury pollution in waterways and air near power plants.



Mercury Pollution on Your Dinner Plate:


Coal-fired
power plants account for about 41% of mercury pollution in the United
States and are the nation’s largest man-made source of mercury. Mercury
vented from power plant smokestacks can end up in lakes, rivers and the
ocean. Once there, it accumulates in the food chain. Larger predator
fish like tuna, sharks and swordfish usually have the highest mercury
concentrations. People who eat these fish can be exposed to unhealthy
levels of mercury. (See a list of fish known to be high in mercury or
other toxins.)



The
problem of mercury-contaminated fish is widespread and growing worse.
According to the EPA's National Listing of Fish and Wildlife
Advisories, mercury advisories increased 163% between 1993 and 2003
(from 899 to 2,362). The number of states that have issued mercury
advisories has risen steadily from 27 in 1993 to 45 in 2003. As of
2003, more than 13 million lake acres and almost 800,000 river miles
were covered by some type of mercury advisory.



The Dangers of Mercury:


Mercury
is a toxic heavy metal that threatens developing fetuses and children
and contributes to the risk of heart disease. More than 600,000
newborns are at risk of brain toxicity and learning disabilities every
year in the U.S. because their mothers were exposed to mercury
pollution.



One
study, by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, estimated that reducing
power plant mercury emissions by about 60% could result in up to $5
billion in annual health benefits from heart attacks prevented. The
study assumes that the cardiovascular effects of mercury observed in
males who consume non-fatty fish are experienced by the whole U.S.
population. A second study, by doctors at the Mount Sinai School of
Medicine’s Center for Children’s Health and the Environment, estimated
the annual health costs of the neurotoxic effects on children from U.S.
power plants to be 1.3 billion dollars.



Take action!


Senators Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Susan Collins (R-ME) have introduced
a bipartisan resolution to reject these rules and send the
administration back to the drawing board.  Tell your senators to
protect the public from toxic mercury pollution.



Click here to email your senators now!