Molly Ivins: Getting heated over mercury

[Dudley_DUright]

I can't tell whether this administration is flaunting its cynicism, its contempt for science or its conviction that when in power you help your contributors and fry your enemies. Although how millions of small children and unborn fetuses came to be enemies of Bush & Co. is beyond my political or theological understanding.

We are talking about the rollback announced last week in regulating mercury pollution. Except, of course, it wasn't announced as a rollback, it was announced as a great step forward. This raises the always timely question, "How dumb do they think we are?" and this time the answer is "profoundly dumb," because it is real hard to get fooled by this one. You look at the numbers and tell me.

Mercury is a neurotoxin that damages the brains and nervous systems of fetuses and young children, and probably affects adults as well. It is one of the suspected, though not proven, causes of recent increases in autism, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's. It is known to cause learning and attention disabilities and mental retardation.

Eight percent of American women of childbearing age already have mercury in their blood above the EPA's "safe level." Mercury emissions from power plants get into rain clouds and come down in lakes and rivers, there poisoning fish and the people who eat them. Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury, spewing 50 tons a year into the air, about 40 percent of the total. In December 2000, the Environmental Protection Agency issued a finding requiring the maximum amount of technically achievable reduction in mercury. This was expected to result in a 90 percent mercury reduction by 2007. Instead, the new EPA proposals downgrade mercury emissions -- particularly mercury emissions from the utility industry -- by taking it out of the "hazardous pollutant" category. It would be funny if it weren't so sad.

more...

http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=16139

[jbfam4]

1. Molly nails it

Another perfect example of this administrations total disregard for human life.

[HuckleB]

2. This piece rules.

It was in the Oregonian this morning, but I couldn't find it online. Thanks for sharing. Now I can share it with a few other folks.

Molly rocked and rolled with this one!