Mercury

Nov. 3, 2009 -- WASHINGTON -- A NASA spacecraft's third and final flyby of Mercury gives scientists, for the first time, an almost complete view of the planet's surface and provides new scientific findings about this relatively unknown world.

The Mercury Surface, Space Environment, Geochemistry and Ranging spacecraft, known as MESSENGER, flew by Mercury on Sept. 29. The probe completed a critical gravity assist to remain on course to enter into orbit around Mercury in 2011. Despite shutting down temporarily because of a power system switchover during a solar eclipse, the spacecraft's cameras and instruments collected high-resolution and color images unveiling another 6 percent of the planet's surface never before seen at close range.    » read more »

October 14, 2009 -- WASHINGTON – Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) issued the following statement in response to the release of a U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) study that shows mercury control technologies at coal-fired power plants are achieving substantial emissions reductions at low costs.

Sen. Carper has carefully monitored mercury pollution issues as chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee’s Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, and he requested this GAO report to examine costs and reductions achieved by power plant mercury control technologies.

Sen. Carper said:    » read more »

June 22, 2009 -- AUGUSTA – Maine Governor John E. Baldacci today ceremonially signed two bills to improve Maine’s environment and protect public health. LD 973, An Act To Provide for the Safe Collection and Recycling of Mercury-containing Lighting, and LD 1293, An Act To Require Citizen Notification of Pesticide Applications Using Aerial Spray or Air-carrier Application Equipment, were ceremonially signed in the Governor’s Office with bill sponsor Rep. Seth Berry (D-Bowdoinham), other legislators and supporters present.

“These bills advance Maine’s reputation for being at the forefront of environmentally conscious policies,” Governor Baldacci said. “Together, these initiatives continue to ensure the health and safety of our people and vibrant natural resources.”    » read more »

Texas Rep. Eddie Rodriguez Files Bill That Will Improve Regulation, Protect Health and Environment

March 12, 2009 -- AUSTIN – Texas is the worst state in the nation in terms of toxic coal-ash waste that would result from both proposed and existing dirty coal-fired power plants, according to a new Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) report that will be released with the participation of Public Citizen’s Texas office. Despite the fact that coal combustion waste contains toxic heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, lead and mercury, it is not regulated as a hazardous waste by either the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) or the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ).    » read more »

Following New Administration’s Request, U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case

WASHINGTON (February 23, 2009) -- The United States Supreme Court this morning declined to consider a Bush-era rule that would have allowed a cap-and-trade approach to toxic mercury emitted by the U.S. power industry. This decision invalidates the Bush rule and sets a new course that will help protect America’s waterways from toxic mercury pollution.    » read more »

Obama Administration Reverses U.S. Position, Takes Leadership Role in Negotiations

WASHINGTON (February 20, 2009) – Representatives from more than 140 countries today committed to reduce global mercury pollution, which will help protect the world’s citizens from the dangerous neurotoxin. This agreement was propelled by the United States’ reversal in policy, which also influenced policy reversals of other countries, including China and India. The announcement is a historic step forward in the fight against mercury pollution, according to scientists and policy experts at the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC).    » read more »

September 29, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Representative Tom Allen (D-ME), and Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today announced that Congress passed the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (S.906), a bill introduced in March 2007 to ban the export of mercury from the United States.    » read more »

Calls for Passage of Rule That Would Reduce Mercury and other Emissions

March 18, 2008 -- Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle today was joined by a coalition of industry and environmental leaders to advance a rule requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce mercury emissions by 90%. Once enacted, the rule will cut mercury output by 4,400 pounds a year.    » read more »

BALTIMORE, MD (February 8, 2006) – The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia today vacated two Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that failed to follow the requirements of the Clean Air Act. Maryland, along with 18 states or state agencies and the City of Baltimore sued the EPA last year for illegally exempting power plants from Clean Air Act regulations that set strict standards for hazardous air pollutants, including mercury.    » read more »

February 11, 2008 -- “Today the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia struck down Bush Administration regulations that exempted coal and oil fired power plants, including some of this country’s worst polluters, from their obligation to sharply decrease their mercury pollution. This ruling represents a significant victory for both the health of Maine people and our natural environment.    » read more »

February 8, 2008 - Vermont Attorney General William H. Sorrell announced today that the United States Appeals Court for the District of Columbia has struck down two rules enacted by the federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) applying unlawfully lenient standards for mercury emissions from power plants. A coalition of 16 states, including Vermont, and various environmental groups had challenged the rules because the rules would have improperly allowed for higher mercury emissions and would have perpetuated “hot spots” of local mercury deposition.    » read more »

New Mexico along with 17 other States and Entities Sued EPA Over Power Plant Emissions Policy

February 8, 2008 -- (Santa Fe, NM) A federal Court of Appeals upheld a lawsuit filed by New Mexico and 17 other states and entities that alleged a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency rule was harmful to citizens and the environment because it would have exempted power plants from strict mercury emissions limits. New Jersey led the lawsuit.    » read more »

AG King: Big Win for New Mexico

(ALBUQUERQUE)---The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and more than a dozen other states claimed a big victory today in their legal fight against a federal policy that exempts power plants from mercury emissions regulations. The U.S. Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C. dissolved the Environmental Protection Agency’s so-called cap-and-trade rule. The Court agreed with the states that the EPA had no authority to exempt power plants.    » read more »

February 08, 2008 -- BOSTON - Today, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley’s Office, as part of a coalition of 15 other state Attorneys General, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection, the City of Baltimore, MD, and several environmental organizations, were successful in an appeal before the United States Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., related to the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2005 regulations pertaining to mercury emissions from electric power plants.    » read more »

February 8, 2008 -- Chicago - Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan today said a federal appeals court decision striking down two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules that would have relaxed the standard for mercury emissions is a tremendous victory for clean air all across the country.    » read more »