Is There a War on Clean Air and Intelligence?

Today, just 2 months after EPA announced plans to limit mercury and other air toxics from power plants, Senator James Inhofe announced his plans to force a vote killing the long-delayed rule.  According to him, this rule is a move by President Obama to wage war on affordable energy. He also claims that this rule, which protects families and communities, will lead to power grid instability. Utilities have already addressed this issue and confirmed that there would not be reduced grid stability.

What Senator Inhofe (who is ironically the top republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee) doesn't say is that mercury is a neurotoxin, highly dangerous for developing babies when consumed by pregnant women through certain fish and seafood. Seafood, with its Omega 3s would seemingly be a healthy food option for growing a baby right? Not if we don't get mercury emissions under control. Without this regulation, power plants do not have a limit on how much mercury they can emit into the air and ultimately into water, contaminating fish supplies and harming our families.

Why is it so important to limit mercury emissions? I'm so glad you asked. According to this report  by NIH, it was found by the CDC that almost half a million children have cord blood mercury levels at those associated with loss of IQ. This loss of IQ then leads to diminished economic productivity over the life of that individual. This is serious as this loss in productivity amounts to over $1 billion per year. So, not only is this rule vital for the protection of the environment, it is imperative for the economic stability of our country. If we really want a long term boost to the economy, we might want to re-evaluate our priorities.


Take action to ensure that our families and communities can breathe clean air!

EPA Announces New Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

    The EPA recently announced that it would be implementing long over-due power plant emissions standards for mercury and air toxics such as arsenic, acid gas, nickel, selenium and cyanide.   This is significant in that it helps to protect families and communities from the side effects of exposure to these pollutants and in that there has never been a standard such as this although amendments to the Clean Air Act were passed over 20 years ago.  This is of particular importance to me as the mother of small children living in a metropolitan area. The occurrence of asthma and other respiratory illnesses among young children has long been associated with air pollution, especially in minority urban communities. 

    What's even better is the cost savings in terms of health care.  According to the EPA, the value of the air quality improvements for people's health alone totals 37 to 90 billion dollars each year! Also, over half a million "sick" days will be averted leading to higher productivity for workers and lower health care costs for American families.   

    In addition, it is well known that mercury accumulation in certain types of fish can be very hazardous to pregnant women and unborn children.  However, fish is also widely considered to be a healthy food choice. Maybe this new standard will over time, allow us to buy tuna and other types of fish without worrying so much about mercury accumulation in our bodies. This is certainly a step toward holding polluters more accountable as well as overall care for human health.  For more information take a look here and here. Let me know what you think!