Pennsylvania Passes Plan to Cut Mercury

[cal04]

A state regulatory board Thursday approved Gov. Ed Rendell's proposal to make deeper cuts in mercury emissions from Pennsylvania's coal-fired power plants, despite opposition from power plants and mining companies.

The vote by the Independent Regulatory Review Commission came just a day before a deadline for the state to submit a mercury-regulation plan to the federal government.

If the rule becomes final, Pennsylvania will be the first major coal-producing state to require a tougher-than-federal limit on mercury emissions from power plants. Pennsylvania is second only to Texas in its level of mercury emissions.

(snip)
The commission voted 3-2 along party lines, with Democrats supporting it. The Republican-controlled Legislature could still stop the rule from going forward, but any measure would have to be signed by the Democratic governor.

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Mercury-Pollution.html

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. First Pluto, and now this

:hi:

(Oh, come on. Someone was going to say it eventually.)

[TheMadMonk]

2. Whilst there is no doubt that this stuff needs to be regulated and

as much as possible, kept from entering the environment, something I read the other day in New Scientist (I think) surprised me a bit. There is virtually no difference in the mercury levels in preserved samples of fish (swordfish) taken 100 years ago to that in fish taken today.