Pennsylvania women and their children need your help!

Toxic mercury pollution from power plants threatens the health of women and their babies. More than 600,000 women of childbearing age nationwide have amounts of mercury in their blood over the level set as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences. Unsafe levels of mercury in mothers’ blood and breast milk can lead to learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, problems with coordination, lowered IQs and even mental retardation. 

This issue is crucial to Pennsylvania families since our state’s power plants are the second biggest emitters of toxic mercury pollution in the country. Our state’s Department of Environmental Protection has developed a very good plan, which will reduce toxic mercury pollution by 90 percent.

But Pennsylvania’s mercury cleanup plan is in danger. Some legislators, taking the lead of industry, have mounted a campaign to kill the plan. Unfortunately, many of those legislators are Democrats, who have kept their names as co-sponsors of a bill to kill the rule, swimming against the tide and refusing to stand behind Governor Rendell’s plan.

Please act now to contact Senate Minority Leader Robert Mellow and Speaker of the House John Perzel ask them to protect babies and support our state’s plan. Visit www.pennfuture.org/mercury/ for more information and to TAKE ACTION. There you can also find background information on this critical issue.