Yesterday the White House issued new regulations through the EPA that force power plants to scrub mercury emissions. Other toxins include arsenic, chromium, nickel, and acid gases. These are considered especially deadly to children; the Obama administration said they’re responsible for 300,000 children born with learning disabilities each year, and that taken as a group, the chemicals are responsible for 11,000 premature deaths, 4,700 heart attacks and 130,000 cases of asthma. According to an EPA analysis, the larger economic benefits of the reduced pollution will more than pay for the short-term clean up costs and that the costs will also be offset through health care that won’t have to be administered. Republicans were quick to call the new regulations “job-killing” and suggested that forcing dirtier plants offline will endanger the power grid. But NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who has a pro business record, was decidedly on the side of regulation: “We can stop this,” Bloomberg wrote of mercury poisoning. “We can spare children this tragic injustice and the pain it brings their families. We can spare adults from losing years off their lives. And we can spare taxpayers the enormous health care costs that come with mercury-related-illnesses.”

This entry was posted on Thursday, December 22nd, 2011 at 7:00 am and is filed under environment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.