Let the rollbacks begin, vol. I

The Diebolds aren't even cold, and here we go--the next Bush administration attempt to roll back 30 years of environmental progress.

Get ready for six to seven times more toxic mercury from power plants in your environment than is allowed under current law. Why is this bad? Too much mercury in a mother's bloodstream means her children can be born with developmental problems and learning disabilities. And 1 in 6 American women already have blood mercury levels high enough to cause this type of problem in their kids.

The lion's share of this mercury comes from coal-burning power plants. The good news is that we already have the technology to reduce mercury emissions from power plants by 90%. The bad news is that today, the EPA announced that it was taking that strong proposal off the table completely in favor of a plan that is actually weaker than what current law requires. This, after 600,000 Americans wrote to the EPA asking for a strong standard. This, after EPA Administrator Mike Leavitt promised to consider all the options and take account of the science and public opinion on this matter.

Why would they do such a thing? You might want to ask Dick Cheney's energy task force.