Paying to Poison Your Children

The anti-environment Bush administration has produced a new rule on mercury pollution that is deadly and just plain stupid. Nine states, five from New England, are now suing the EPA. And they should be sued for being such moronic toadies of the administration.

The pollution that is pumped daily into the air here in the Midwest rains down on the folks in the Northeast. The new rule fails to protect children and pregnant women from toxins released into the air. Mercury, released into the air as a byproduct of coal-fired power plants, is highly toxic. Nearly every state in the US has advisories warning of mercury levels in fish. Scientists estimate that over 600,000 children are born each year with neurological problems because of mercury exposure.

From yesterday's Christian Science Monitor:

The March 15 regulations - which aim to reduce current mercury emissions of 48 tons a year by 70 percent in the year 2018 - does not cut emissions across the board but gives companies the option of buying pollution credits from other plants that have not reached their maximum emission allotment.

In the lawsuit, attorneys general in New Jersey, California, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, and Vermont claim the EPA fails to fulfill its obligations under the Clean Air Act, in part because it exempts power plants from the strictest controls for emissions - allowing companies to participate in such cap and trade. Many environmentalists say the scheme could cause "hot spots" of mercury deposits, and claim the EPA has ignored technology that could reduce emissions by up to 90 percent.

Rather than forcing utility companies to not poison children, our government is saying that they can pollute all the want as long as they pay up. It's your life, it's your children's lives... so why isn't Michigan on the list? Why isn't our wonderful Governor Granholm - champion of kids - demanding that our attorney general get it in gear and join the fight? Oh, well that would be because our Attorney General Mike Cox is in Washington DC fighting AGAINST labeling auto emissions as a pollutant needing regulation. Did I mention lately, Mike, that I think you've got your head up your rear?

Technorati: mercury, pollution