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U.S. GOVERNMENT 1: A Little Less Mercury

This week the U.S. government said they want power plants to have less mercury pollution in the air within 15 years. The U.S. government group that protects the environment, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), said that less mercury would protect pregnant women and young children from the pollution.

Most high levels of mercury are found in water, but almost 40 percent of mercury pollution comes from power plants. The U.S. has 600 power plants that run on coal and release 49 tons of mercury pollution each year. The Clean Air Mercury Rule, made final on March 15, 2005, will decrease the pollution by 20 tons in the year 2020.

Jeffrey Holmstead, an air pollution official for the EPA, said in an Associated Press article, “The United States is the first nation to take a leadership role in addressing the problem of mercury from power plants.”

Some senators and environmentalists think that this new rule doesn’t do enough to protect people from pollution. The rule is not the same for all the states and it allows plants to buy more amounts of pollution levels from other plants that do not go over their limit.

Mercury is an element that is naturally found in air, water and soil. High levels can affect the brain, heart, kidneys and lungs.

--Written by Jasmine Washington

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