Mercury standards in our air.

[Guest guest]

I'm passing along an email I got from a group:

Dear Hilda,

How many more shenanigans from corporate lobbyists do we have to put up with?

This week, Senator Inhofe of Oklahoma, is attempting to use the obscure

Congressional Review Act (CRA) [1] to try to stop a great new rule, the Mercury

and Air Toxics Standards Rule. [2] Before the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards

Rule, there were no standards for how much mercury power plants could spew into

the air – mercury that ends up in our food and water. No wonder up to 400,000

infants are born every year with elevated levels of mercury in their blood! [3]

We can't let the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule be destroyed. The CRA is

Senator Inhofe's sneaky way of taking back a rule we just got passed in

December. With one in ten children suffering from asthma and missing on average

more than 4 days of school each year, families want this rule, which is

estimated to prevent 130,000 asthma attacks every year.[4], [5]

Don't let Sen. Inhofe and the corporate lobbyists win! Tell your Senators to

prioritize public health and clean air over corporate greed by urging them to

support the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule now by clicking here:

http://action.momsrising.org/go/1910?t=5 & akid=3344.1603392.w8isYi

Once you click the link you can use our handy tool to send a quick note to your

Senators. It only takes less than a minute, I promise!

What's the Lowdown?

Just last December, because of the hard work of hundreds of advocates and

thousands of messages from MomsRising members (like you), President Obama signed

the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards Rule. [7]

Your work made a difference! Here's what the President said at the time of the

signing:

" Thanks to the hard work of so many of you, [, Director of the EPA]

and I were able to announce new common-sense standards to better protect the air

we breathe from mercury and other harmful air pollution. And that was a big

deal. "

- President Obama, Tuesday, January 8th 2011 [8]

This is an important step forward for clean air. The Mercury and Air Toxics

Standards Rule will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart

attacks a year. It will also prevent 130,000 asthma attacks, providing relief to

the one in ten American children suffering from asthma. [9] The Mercury and Air

Toxics Standards Rule will also protect families all across the country from

toxics like mercury and arsenic. [10] Mercury can harm children's developing

brains, affecting memory, attention and IQ. The other toxic metals that are

addressed in this new standard, such as arsenic, chromium and nickel, can cause

cancer. [11], [12]

Unfortunately, Sen. Inhofe and corporate lobbyists are working hard to take down

this important rule. [13] Did you know that Sen. Inhofe received more than

$44,000 from Koch Industries, a huge petroleum and chemicals companies, which is

his SINGLE LARGEST DONOR? [14]

But, together we can be stronger than corporate lobbyists like Koch Industries.

Tell your Senators to stand up for kids by protecting the Mercury and Air Toxics

Standards Rule.

http://action.momsrising.org/go/1910?t=7 & akid=3344.1603392.w8isYi

Make sure you share the link above via Facebook, Twitter, or simply forward this

email to a few friends. The vote is going to be close, so we need everyone to

contact their Senators and ask them to stand up for public health and clean air.

Together we are a powerful voice for children and families!

-- , Gloria, , and the entire MomsRising.org team

[1] " Conservative Group's $1M Ad Buy Seeks Votes to Kill Coal Rule, " Cutting

Edge, June 8th 2012

[2] EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants/

Historic mercury and air toxics standards meet 20-year old requirement to cut

dangerous smokestack emissions. EPA, Release Date: 12/21/2011

[3] Environmental Defense Fund

[4] " Vital Signs: Asthma Prevalence, Disease Characteristics, and

Self-Management Education --- United States " , 2001--2009, Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention.

[5] EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants/

Historic mercury and air toxics standards meet 20-year old requirement to cut

dangerous smokestack emissions. EPA, Release Date: 12/21/2011

[6] " Congressional Review Act Might Not Be an Option to Fight EPA's Greenhouse

Gas Regs, " New York Times, January 6, 2011

[7] Remarks by the President to the EPA staff, January 10, 2012

[8] EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants/

Historic mercury and air toxics standards meet 20-year old requirement to cut

dangerous smokestack emissions. EPA, Release Date: 12/21/2011

[9] Ibid.

[10] Ibid.

[11] " Arsenic is a well-known environmental toxin and carcinogen. " Arsenic

Exposure Activates an Oncogenic Signaling Pathway; Leads to Increased Cancer

Risk, Science Daily, February 23, 2010.

[12] " Results confirm that children appear most at risk in the womb, where

mercury seems to deform the brain's fragile architecture and upset the

maturation and migration of brain cells. But Grandjean also found that mercury

could threaten children's nervous systems well into adolescence. " Mercury on the

Brain, Harvard Magazine, June 2004.

[13] Open Secrets, Center for Responsive Politics