Cspan and Mercury

[bloom]

So about a week ago - Cspan - Washington Journal had someone on there who was talking about a new report that came out about problems with natural resources... they were also talking about different kinds of pollution and such. It might have been this study, but I'm not sure, I couldn't find it on their site.

http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx

So anyway - I figure I'll call in and low and behold - I get through and the lady asks what my question is about and I say that I want to talk about Mercury and she immediately hangs up.


Is there some ban on talking about Mercury that I don't know about?

[LdyGuique]

1. It was called the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment Report --

it can be found on http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx.

[bloom]

2. Thanks - that is the same link I posted

I thought maybe that was it - there is a thread about it over in the Environment forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=115x22188

[globalvillage]

3. Must be.

EPA Distorted Mercury Analysis, GAO Says

By Shankar Vedantam
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, March 8, 2005; Page A09

The Environmental Protection Agency distorted the analysis of its controversial proposal to regulate mercury pollution from power plants, making it appear that the Bush administration's market-based approach was superior to a competing scheme supported by environmentalists, the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office said yesterday.

Rebuking the agency for a lack of "transparency," the report said the EPA had failed to fully document the toxic impact of mercury on brain development, learning, and neurological functioning. The GAO urged that these problems be rectified before the EPA takes final action on the rule.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15244-2005Mar7.html

Below is a statement from Senator John Kerry on a report in today’s Washington Post that the EPA specifically omitted the findings of a Harvard University study on the health effects of mercury from the public documents on the administration’s new mercury emissions rule:

“Why did the administration hide its own research on toxic mercury pollution when the health of women and children is on the line? How can you make the right decision when the facts are buried to help corporate special interest? This isn't an academic debate. Every year more than 600,000 infants are born with dangerously high levels of mercury in their blood. The National Academy of Sciences has warned us that mercury can lead to learning disabilities, seizures and cerebral palsy in children. There's growing evidence that mercury may contribute to autism. And now experts commissioned by the Bush administration are warning us about mercury leading to heart attacks. Why is the EPA suppressing the evidence that mercury pollution can be controlled better and faster?”

http://kerry.senate.gov/v3/cfm/record.cfm?id=234450

[bloom]

4. And now my latest mercury/autism thread is missing.

I must be in the twilight zone.