What's New
On April 17, Gov.
Granholm announced that she is requiring power plants to reduce toxic mercury
pollution by 90 percent, a step that will clean up Michigan’s
waterways and protect the health of Michigan
families. “Our kids should be mercury-free, and today’s announcement is a huge
step towards making that goal a reality,” said Environment Michigan Field
Organizer Jason Barbose. “It’s really a major victory for our health and environment.” Read the release.
View Our Newspaper Ad
On Earth Day and April 23, Environment Michigan and NRDC placed an ad (see image on the right) in the
Oakland Daily Press and
Macomb Daily thanking Gov. Granholm for taking
strong action to prevent mercury pollution.
Click
here to download the ad. (PDF, 124 KB)
How You Can Help
On April 17, Gov. Granholm
announced that she is requiring power plants to reduce their toxic mercury
pollution by 90 percent. This is a major victory for our health and environment! Please take a
moment to thank Gov. Granholm for her leadership.
Background
Mercury is a dangerous toxin that threatens the brain and nervous systems of
unborn and young children. EPA data finds that each year as many as 630,000
children are born at risk of health problems, including impaired memory,
vision, motor skills and attention deficits due to mercury exposure.
The largest industrial source of mercury pollution is power plants. In Michigan,
coal-burning power plants emit 2,464 pounds of mercury each year.
The principal way that people are exposed to mercury is by eating fish.
Smokestacks spew mercury pollution into the air, where it rains into our
waterways and accumulates up the food chain in fish. The state of Michigan advises people
to limit the fish they eat because of the risks of mercury.
Industry has convinced the Bush administration to ignore solutions to mercury
contamination by delaying meaningful reductions until 2025.
The good news is that Gov. Granholm pledged to stop mercury in her 2002
campaign:
"To clean up our
air, [I] will support the phase-out and elimination of mercury emissions from
coal-fired power plants."
Gov. Granholm's Securing Michigan's Future plan
In the last few years, Environment Michigan spoke with over 50,000
Michiganders, delivered 8,000 postcards to the governor, organized over 3,000
phone calls and emails to the governor, and directly made the case to the
administration for strong, quick action. Environment Michigan also released four
reports highlighting the extensive mercury contamination of waterways and fish
in Michigan.
In April 2006, Gov. Granholm listened to the people of Michigan
and announced her decision to require Michigan’s
coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions by 90 percent by 2015. While reductions can and should take place
before 2015, the governor’s decision is nonetheless a significant milestone in
efforts to protect Michiganders from the dangers of toxic mercury.
The governor instructed the Michigan Department of
Environmental Quality to draft a rule under Michigan’s Clean Air Act to
achieve the
emission reduction goals set forth by the governor. Environment
Michigan is working to make sure that the DEQ’s rule is implemented
as soon as possible and that other sources, such as cement plants,
reduce their
emissions to protect Michigan’s
environment and public health. More.
