Posted on 05/29/2011 10:31:28 AM PDT by I got the rope
By WILLIE SOON AND PAUL DRIESSEN The Environmental Protection Agency recently issued 946 pages of new rules requiring that U.S. power plants sharply reduce their (already low) emissions of mercury and other air pollutants. EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson claims that while the regulations will cost electricity producers $10.9 billion annually, they will save 17,000 lives and generate up to $140 billion in health benefits. There is no factual basis for these assertions. To build its case against mercury, the EPA systematically ignored evidence and clinical studies that contradict its regulatory agenda, which is to punish hydrocarbon use. Mercury has always existed naturally in Earth's environment. A 2009 study found mercury deposits in Antarctic ice across 650,000 years. Mercury is found in air, water, rocks, soil and trees, which absorb it from the environment. This is why our bodies evolved with proteins and antioxidants that help protect us from this and other potential contaminants. Another defense comes from selenium, which is found in fish and animals. Its strong attraction to mercury molecules protects fish and people against buildups of methylmercury, mercury's biologically active and more toxic form. Even so, the 200,000,000 tons of mercury naturally present in seawater have never posed a danger to any living being.
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
DiHydrogen Monoxide is much more dangerous than mercury. Here’s proof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi3erdgVVTw
Stuff ‘ll kill you in solid, liquid or gaseous states, and fish have sex in it... Stick with alcohol.
That’s what FReepers are for. Whenever some dizzy lib talks to me about any science I toss in hormesis. They’ve never heard of it. Go look it up and get back to me. They never get back to me.
Danged hippy, pinko-commie, running-dog, anti-American, anti-capitalist, fear-mongers. Everyone in their right minds knows mercury is good for you, especially for babies and kids.
“Whenever some dizzy lib talks to me about any science I toss in hormesis. Theyve never heard of it. Go look it up and get back to me. They never get back to me.”
So how does hormesis explain growing infertility in fish and the growing number of deformaties in frogs from all the toxins we are pouring into the environment.
"In recent years, the frequency of malformed frogs, toads, salamanders and other amphibians found with missing limbs, extra limbs, and skin webbings has increased. The shrinking populations of many North American amphibian populations underscore the need to understand the causes and implications of this phenomenon. Now a new study suggests that a parasite may be to blame for many of the abnormalities found in amphibians of the western United StatesOf course, still wanting a human connection in the "having their cake and eating it, too" sense, they speculated that fertilizers could have caused proliferation of snails and parasites, thus resulting in amphibian limb deformities.
...The group looked at the relationships between the frequency and severity of abnormalities and a variety of factors in a particular aquatic site, including the abundance of a parasite (Ribeiroia) and pesticide contamination. The collaborative and interdisciplinary effort, which included academic researchers, as well as federal scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Survey, found malformed amphibians at a wide variety of aquatic sites, ranging from mountain lakes and ephemeral pools to irrigation canals and impoundments. While the researchers did not find a relationship between pesticides and the frequency of malformed amphibians, they did find a striking connection between malformed amphibians and the presence of Ribeiroia ..."
“If mercury is so dangerous, why is the government requiring that we bring it into our homes in these stupid cfl bulbs?”
1) Mercury poisoning.
2) Global warming.
They probably figure mercury poisoning is the lesser of two evils.
“40 years ago we used to play with mercury in science class. Being the only metal that was liquid at room temperature was very cool. As far as I know, Im still alive.”
I know a 70 year old thats been smoking cigarettes for 50 years. That must mean smoking isn`t unhealthy, right?
If mercury is so dangerous, why is it still legal to use it in dental fillings?
Blame that racist turd who heads EPA— Lisa Jackson
This is hate whitey in action. Oppress the productive sectors which are 97% white and Asian owned. A triumph for the affirmative action sector layabouts in the Federal Government of Obama and Lisa Jackson
Rip off American households via higher electricity rates all to eliminate a bit of mercury
I was talking to my wife about that just yesterday. Why on Earth would the EPA require or even encourage us to use a product that is as dangerous as they claim a CFL to be? It is absurd.
I still think bicycle helmets look gay.
I generally go home twice a year on vacation. The CFL bulb in my patio ceiling fans is ALWAYS burned out when I get there. I have never had one last 6 months. Nobody local carries that particular type of bulb so I have to order them online. I believe I paid $20 or so for 5 of them last time. I will be replacing that fixture with a normal incandescent one at some point.
Same for ethanol. We know it causes MORE pollution in the form of NOx...but because it benefits the planet because of global warming...we are mandated to use it.
You hit it dead on. Landfills are next...and from what I am reading the amount of methylmercury coming from landfills is HUGE!
You are right to point out is was a poisoning. Methyl mercury was being dumped in HUGE amounts into the waters of Minamata, Japan, from industrial processes.
The Minamata disease/hypothesis needs further testing. I personally do not believe that methylmercury was the cause of the deaths and deformaties we are seeing. MeHg is supposed to be a neurotoxin right? Why are we seeing deformities. This points to other organics that I know were found in the waters in Minamata.
Cyanide was also found in the waters and fish. The list of organics is very long. I will post it later.
You’re breathing it in right now. Go outside and pickup some soil. Analyze it if you wish. You will see concentrations so high it would literally take a coal fired power plant 9,000 to 14,000 years at the max deposition rates to put that much mercury in the soil.
Methylmercury accumalation in fish has nothing to do with power plants. You can’t even see the power plants mercury concentrations in the air...it’s all noise.
If that was true, regulations wouldn’t drive producers into bankruptcy,
Oh PLEASE! Regulations drive producers into bankruptcy because the same product is made elsewhere for less.
You can’t import electricity from China and your cite of the indifference curve betrays a lack of acumen concerning a commodity that consumers cannot do without, although they can curtail.
Users on the grid will pay all or more than they can bear until they sit in the dark.
I suggest that you brush up on logical thought. - and read the article again.
Do you act the screaming idiot just so that people won't bother replying and you can feel like you "won"?
Sheesh.
You still don't understand the substitution effect.
You cant import electricity from China and your cite of the indifference curve betrays a lack of acumen concerning a commodity that consumers cannot do without, although they can curtail.
Sure you can. It would just cost a lot. In some cases it's worth it, seeing as we import electricity from China right now stored in batteries.
Users on the grid will pay all or more than they can bear until they sit in the dark.
You forgot "use less," thus illustrating your basic lack of comprehension of a simple demand curve. Then there is "use something else." A classic example in the electrical market is when people substitute natural gas to heat their domestic hot water when electrical prices rise and heating water with electricity is too expensive (a good example of the substitution effect, BTW). The point of indifference is that price beyond which they will make the change.
Seeing as I've written a book on the topic of regulatory corruption and what to do about it, there may not be another FREeper who knows more about the corrupt economics of regulatory government.
If you want a better understanding of regulatory racketeering in the electrical market, I suggest you read this. Maybe you'll even figure out who wrote it.
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