Subject:
Mercury in our air???
Your message to friends:
Wow: Right now a few Senators are working to dismantle the the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. If these Senators are successful it would mean that Mercury, which can harm children's developing brains, affecting memory, attention, and IQ, would start spewing into the air. Help me remind our Senators that they should protect our public health, not destroy it: http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Mercury_Rollback_2-22-20?referring_akid=3130.1981312.y4vu7y&source=taf There are more details in the email below. Thanks! Norma ***********************FORWARDED EMAIL BELOW******************* First Name, Last week, pediatricians, nurses, and families across the country had to stop celebrating the nation’s first limits on toxic mercury pollution. What? Why? Because the very same day that the Mercury and Air Toxics rule we all fought so hard for was officially entered into the federal register, corporate lobbyists launched a plan to try to dismantle it. Tell your U.S. Senators to stand their ground and fight back against the attacks of corporate lobbyists. We need Congress to defend public health and protect children from toxics like mercury today: http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Mercury_Rollback_2-22-20?referring_akid=3130.1981312.y4vu7y&source=taf What's the scoop? Just last December, because of the hard work of hundreds of advocates and messages from thousands of MomsRising members (like you), the Mercury and Air Toxics Rule was signed by President Obama. [1] The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule will prevent as many as 11,000 premature deaths and 4,700 heart attacks a year. It will also prevent 130,000 asthma attacks, providing relief to the one in ten American children suffering from asthma.[2] And Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule will protect families all across the country from toxins like mercury and arsenic.[3] Mercury can harm children's developing brains, affecting memory, attention, and IQ. The other toxic metals that are also addressed in this new standard, such as arsenic, chromium, and nickel, can cause cancer. [4],[5] BUT at this very moment, Senator James Inhofe of Oklahoma, backed by corporate lobbyists, is attempting to use the obscure Congressional Review Act (CRA) to try and kill it. The with the CRA, which is often referred to as the nuclear option, a simple majority vote effectively kills the rule. [6] Tell your Senators to put public health before corporate greed and urge them to support the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards rule. http://action.momsrising.org/letter/Mercury_Rollback_2-22-20?referring_akid=3130.1981312.y4vu7y&source=taf And please pass this share this link by posting it on Facebook or emailing it to two or three friends. We are going to need a lot of people power to fight back against the corporate lobbyists. Together we are a powerful voice for children and families, - Sarah, Gloria, Claire and the whole MomsRising.org team [1] "EPA Issues First National Standards for Mercury Pollution from Power Plants/ Historic mercury and air toxics standards meet 20-year old requirement to cut dangerous smokestack emissions," EPA, Release Date: 12/21/2011 [2] Ibid. [3] Ibid. [4] "Arsenic is a well-known environmental toxin and carcinogen." "Arsenic Exposure Activates an Oncogenic Signaling Pathway; Leads to Increased Cancer Risk", Science Daily 2/2/10 [5] "Results confirm that children appear most at risk in the womb, where mercury seems to deform the brain's fragile architecture and upset the maturation and migration of brain cells. But Grandjean also found that mercury could threaten children's nervous systems well into adolescence." "Mercury on the Brain", Harvard Magazine 6/04 [6] "Business groups launch legal, Capitol Hill attacks on EPA mercury rule," February 16, 2012, The Hill http://thehill.com/blogs/e2-wire/e2-wire/211241-business-groups-launch-legal-capitol-hill-attacks-on-epa-mercury-rule
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