Issues
Environment Clean Air
In Wisconsin, the beauty of our natural
resources is a source of great pride, and it is something
that connects us to one another, across different communities
and different cultures. That is why people around the state
have contacted me with their concerns about the negative impact
of mercury contamination and ozone pollution on our public
health and natural resources. Stronger national standards
need to be implemented to reduce air pollution migrating north
from states that do not measure up to clear air regulations
that Wisconsin has established. Furthermore, improved national
standards will ultimately protect Wisconsin's environment
from further contamination as a result of mercury deposition
and acid rain.
In 2006, I cosponsored S.
150, the Clean Power Act, as part of an effort to improve
Wisconsin's air quality. This bill would have created strict
standards for sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, and mercury
emissions from coal-fired power plants. It would have also
regulated carbon dioxide, a key contaminant that is contributing
to global warming, as a pollutant for the first time.
The need for stringent mercury controls has never been more
urgent. We know that mercury is a neurotoxin and that mercury
exposure can cause a wide range of neurological problems and
developmental delays. The federal Environmental Protection
Agency's (EPA) own scientists have found that twice as many
American children are born at risk from mercury exposure than
previously thought and the EPA has reported that 1 out of
every 6 women of child-bearing age has so much mercury in
her blood that it poses a risk to a developing fetus. Unfortunately,
in March 2005, the Bush Administration issued a deeply disappointing
emissions rule that sets the U.S. – and the world –
back in the fight against mercury pollution. Their final mercury
rule, with its cap and trade emissions proposal, also falls
far short of what the Clean Air Act requires to protect people
across the U.S.
In September 2005 I cosponsored legislation that would have
disapproved the flawed EPA mercury rule. Although the Senate
ultimately allowed the Administration’s proposal to
go forward, I was joined by 25 of my Senate colleagues in
a letter I wrote to the President about my concerns with this
rule. I have also been joined by Senators from several states
in calls for Senate committee hearings on mercury issues.
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