Beam me to Planet Gore !
Posted on 05/29/2011 10:31:28 AM PDT by I got the rope
By WILLIE SOON AND PAUL DRIESSEN The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued 946 pages of new rules requiring that U.S. power plants sharply reduce their (already low) emissions of mercury and other air pollutants. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson claims that while the regulations will cost electricity producers $10.9 billion annually, they will save 17,000 lives and generate up to $140 billion in health benefits. There is no factual basis for these assertions. To build its case against mercury, the EPA systematically ignored evidence and clinical studies that contradict its regulatory agenda, which is to punish hydrocarbon use. Mercury has always existed naturally in Earth's environment. A 2009 study found mercury deposits in Antarctic ice across 650,000 years. Mercury is found in air, water, rocks, soil and trees, which absorb it from the environment. This is why our bodies evolved with proteins and antioxidants that help protect us from this and other potential contaminants. Another defense comes from selenium, which is found in fish and animals. Its strong attraction to mercury molecules protects fish and people against buildups of methylmercury, mercury's biologically active and more toxic form. Even so, the 200,000,000 tons of mercury naturally present in seawater have never posed a danger to any living being.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
You can't ban an element on the periodic table. This is just another way for the EPA to take control using regulations. The mercury science is just as bad as the climate science.
271 comments so far. LOL
later
40 years ago we used to play with mercury in science class. Being the only metal that was liquid at room temperature was very cool. As far as I know, I’m still alive (unless I’ve died and gone to hell and just can’t tell the difference).
If mercury is so dangerous, why is the government requiring that we bring it into our homes in these stupid cfl bulbs?
I have no doubt that mercury is toxic but there are far more dangerous things to worry about.
LOL - A buddy of mine back in the ‘50s used to carry a really shiny, slippery quarter around with him at all times. He’s dead now but not from mercury poisoning.
If mercury was as lethal as proclaimed, dental assistants and dentists would have a very short life expectancy considering how much they are exposed to it in their work.
This isn’t about “safety” of the public, its about control of the public.
I played with mercury also, all paint was lead based, we had leaded gasoline, we even rode bicycles without helmets!!! Just because some parent had an idiot kid who ingested mercury or paint chips the government has come in to take control. Because they know better. The government is the idiot parent!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
http://www.mercurypoisoningproject.org/pdf/october2003gastroenteritis.pdf
Mercury, metallic mercury, has been used as a folk remedy for decades.
Also, Santaria uses metal mercury, as do some other Carribean practices:
http://www.mercurypoisoningproject.org/pdf/2008GARETANOetal.pdf
If Hg were as deadly as EPA wishes it to be, it would be an obvious health problem. Consider that a drop of Hg can shut down a State-monopoly school for a week, yet a Santaria practitioner will sprinkle a gram on their floors for “health and luck”.
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson claims that while the regulations will cost electricity producers $10.9 billion annually, they will save 17,000 lives and generate up to $140 billion in health benefits. There is no factual basis for these assertions. To build its case against mercury, the EPA systematically ignored evidence and clinical studies that contradict its regulatory agenda, which is to punish hydrocarbon use.
> we even rode bicycles without helmets!!!
You daredevil, you !!!
Metallic mercury is not the main problem. It’s the organic compounds it forms in nature or that are man-made. They are far from harmless. One drop of dimethyl mercury is deadly.
Here’s an interesting article.
http://www.chm.bris.ac.uk/motm/dimethylmercury/dmmh.htm
“271 comments so far. LOL”
Mostly ripping the article and Soon. I’ve only read about 50 so far though.
So there is Hg in Sea Salt?
Compact Fluorescent Bulbs and Mercury: Reality Check
“Though it’s nothing to laugh at, unless you wipe up mercury [without gloves] and then lick your hand, you’re probably going to be okay.”
What is the proper way to handle a broken CFL?
Open the windows and let the room air out for 15 to 30 minutes, then remove as much material as possible without a vacuum cleaner. Using disposable gloves, scoop the glass onto a piece of cardboard and wipe the area with a wet paper towel. For smaller pieces of glass and powder, use duct tape to pull up the fragments and wash your hands after cleaning up the debris.
Another public service by EPA (EVERYONE'S PAIN in the ASS)
> the regulations will cost electricity producers $10.9 billion annually,
No, it will NOT.
It WILL coast electricity consumers $10.9 billion.
Producers pay nothing, they just pass along the costs.
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