Wednesday, August 30, 2006

Environment Illinois : Ask legislators to support the Illinois Mercury Rule

I want to report some great progress in our effort to protect public health from mercury contamination. Last Monday, Dynegy Inc. became Illinois's second major coal-fired power company to announce its support of the Illinois Mercury Rule proposed by Governor Blagojevich in January. With your help, we've persuaded two out of the three major power generators in our state that they can and must install modern mercury controls to reduce this toxin by 90 percent.

We've got momentum on our side, but our campaign for the mercury rule isn't finished. The state's largest air polluter, Midwest Generation, still opposes it, and the rule still has to pass the legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR).

The twelve legislators on JCAR will decide for all Illinoisans whether to adopt this rule. Please help us today by asking JCAR to support the Illinois Mercury Rule. Then ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, just click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser.

https://www.environmentillinois.org/action/protect-lake-michigan/askjcar?id4=ES


MORE NEWS:

Last Monday's Chicago Tribune report on the agreement with Dynegy:
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chicago/chi-0608220270aug22,1,3114607.story

Environmental advocate Max Muller's letter in the Peoria Journal Star urging Midwest Generation to install pollution controls: http://www.pjstar.com/stories/081206/FOR_BAK0F6E7.058.shtml

Governor Blagojevich's press release on the new multi-pollutant provision of the mercury rule: http://www.illinois.gov/PressReleases/ShowPressRelease.cfm?SubjectID=3&RecNum=5128

We're not counting our chickens on a mercury victory until they're hatched. To keep the heat on and seal the deal, we've launched an ad campaign this week on the CTA, which will be followed up by print ads in several state newspapers next month. Be sure to look for our ads!


BACKGROUND:

Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that harms people and the environment. Developing fetuses and children are especially at risk as even low-level mercury exposure can impede brain development, causing learning disabilities, impaired memory and motor skills, and decreased IQ. Our state ranks sixth for mercury emissions nationwide, and 71 percent of those emissions come from coal fired power plants.

Following a 2-year campaign by our office to build support for mercury standards, the Governor proposed the Illinois Mercury Rule in January. It requires power plants to install available and affordable mercury controls that can capture 90 percent of mercury pollution before it leaves the smokestack. But until recently, owners of Illinois's coal fired power plants were united in their opposition to it.

Three weeks ago week the Governor's office and Illinois EPA announced that they had worked with Ameren power company to propose a new, "multi-pollutant" provision to the mercury rule. On Monday, Dynegy Inc. agreed to support the rule with the new provision as well. Under the deal, these two power companies agreed not only to install mercury controls by 2009--maintaining one of the most protective mercury rules in the nation--but also to dramatically cut lung-harming soot and smog pollution.

In contrast, Midwest Generation, the state's biggest air polluter and the owner of the five old dirty coal plants in the Chicago area and one in Peoria, prefers to spend its money on lobbyists and lawyers to fight the rule, rather than bring its plants up to modern standards. With Midwest Generation still opposed, and with the Joint Committee on Administrative Rules (JCAR) vote on the rule still ahead of us, the fight for the mercury rule isn't over.

The twelve state legislators on JCAR will decide for all Illinoisans whether to adopt this rule. Please help us today by asking JCAR to support the Illinois Mercury Rule. Then ask your family and friends to help by forwarding this e-mail to them.

To take action, just click on the link below or copy and paste it into your web browser.

https://www.environmentillinois.org/action/protect-lake-michigan/askjcar?id4=ES

Sincerely,

Rebecca D. Stanfield
Environment Illinois State Director
RebeccaD@environmentillinois.org
http://www.environmentillinois.org

P.S. Thanks again for your support. Please feel free to share this e-mail with your family and friends.

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