Mercury rising

It is very good news that the Mercury Policy Project is conducting a conference in Madison next week. Maybe the folks in the dome will listen to a few things this coalition has to say on the dangers of mercury in the waters of our state before it is too late.

There are a few legislators in particular that should send a staff member over to the conference to listen to the presentations. In particular, the members of the resources committees of both chambers that voted against Clearinghouse Rule CR01-081 in the 2003-2004 session of the legislature. This rule would have reduced mercury emissions from power plants by 80 percent by the 2015. You can find the vote here.

Unbelievably, even though Rep. Mark Pettis represents an area that derives a lot of income from anglers, he told a newspaper after the vote that folks should just eat less fish.

Our neighboring states are taking the action necessary to protect their resources:

“Wisconsin has fallen behind in regulating mercury emissions from power plants,” said Keith Reopelle, Program Director for Clean Wisconsin. “We need to reduce mercury emissions by at least 90 percent as our neighbors in Illinois and Minnesota have.” The Wisconsin DNR will make a decision on mercury regulations this fall.

But will the Republican legislature even let them make the right decision?

They should because millions of tourist dollars for our state are riding on the action or inaction of the state legislature. In 2000, 341 lakes in our state had a health advisory for mercury. It hasn't improved as nearly every lake now has an advisory. Some of the worst lakes for mercury pollution were compiled by Clean Wisconsin in a 2004 report.

If the potential loss of tourist dollars isn't enough, the DNR publishes a document on the impacts of mercury that should give enough warning to legislators. Or maybe they should care that a poll in 2003 found that 88 percent of Wisconsin residents want mercury regulated.

If they don't, there is a poll in November that could yield them some pretty final results.

Update: I swear I had not seen the Isthmus for this week yet when I wrote my post that uses the same name they do for an online article previewing a report on mercury in fish. Just a funny coincidence. I haven't read the article yet but I'm willing to bet it is good so pick up a copy if you get the chance.