Global Warming Blog On EPA And Mercury

See American Lung Association Manipulates ‘Maternal Instinct’ to Sell EPA Power Grab by Marlo Lewis. Excerpt:

"Fact check time. First, mercury emissions from power plants do not poison anyone’s air. When mercury emissions deposit in soils and water bodies, bacteria can transform inorganic mercury (Hg) into methylmercury (CH3Hg), an organic compound that can bioaccumlate in aquatic food webs. In theory, American women who consume hundreds of pounds of self-caught (non-commercial) fish from the most contaminated water bodies can damage the cognitive and neurological development of their unborn children. However, in the 24 years since Congress tasked EPA to study the health risks of mercury, the agency has not identified a single child whose learning or other disabilities can be traced to prenatal mercury exposure due to maternal fish consumption. But even if mercury in fish were a significant health hazard, it would still be false to claim that power-plant mercury emissions poison the air kids breathe.

The case is somewhat similar for arsenic. Inhalation is a “route of exposure” but mainly as an occupational hazard at certain types of industrial facilities that emit arsine gas. For the general population, which includes children, the main route of exposure is ingestion of contaminated food or water.

More importantly, carbon dioxide (CO2), the substance targeted by EPA’s Clean Power Plan, is non-toxic to humans and animals at multiple times today’s atmospheric concentration (~400 parts per million) or any level reasonably anticipated for centuries to come.

What’s more, CO2 is a basic building block of the planetary food chain, and rising concentrations boost plant productivity, water-use efficiency, and resistence to environmental stresses, conferring multi-trillion dollar benefits on global agriculture.

At most, the Clean Power Plan would reduce atmospheric CO2 concentrations by a few parts per million by century’s end. What biological difference could that make to babies, when their exhaled breath contains about 40,000 parts CO2 per million?"