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By admin - Posted
on September 30th, 2008
Tagged: Barack Obama • Congress • Environment • Exports • Mercury
• Public health • Senate • Toxic chemicals • Trade
September 29, 2008 -- WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Barack Obama (D-IL) and
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Representative Tom Allen (D-ME), and Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee Chairman Barbara Boxer (D-CA) today announced that
Congress passed the Mercury Export Ban Act of 2008 (S.906), a bill introduced
in March 2007 to ban the export of mercury from the United States.
The legislation will now be sent to the White House to be
signed into law. The United States is consistently ranked as one of the world's
top exporters of mercury, a substance that, when ingested, can lead to learning
disabilities and physical ailments. This bill will remove a significant amount
of mercury from the global market and lessen the threat this substance poses to
the world's most vulnerable citizens. Obama and Murkowski introduced this bill
in the Senate and Representative Allen introduced companion legislation in the
House of Representatives.
"I applaud Congress' overwhelming bipartisan passage
of this important bill, which will protect millions of the world's vulnerable
citizens, particularly pregnant women and children, from the deadly threat of
mercury poisoning," said Senator Obama. "We know that mercury can
cause serious developmental problems in children and problems affecting vision,
motor skills, blood pressure, and fertility in adults. While the United States
has improved its efforts to collect and contain mercury, this country remains
one of the leading exporters of this dangerous product. Protecting Americans
from the dangers of mercury has been one of my top priorities, and I am proud
this bill will now remove a significant portion of mercury from the global
market. This bill also represents an important agreement between industry and
environmental groups towards that goal. I urge the President to immediately
sign this bill into law."
"Given our expanding knowledge about the health
impacts of elemental mercury when it enters the atmosphere, this is a
common-sense approach to slow needless mercury emissions, especially in the
developing world," said Murkowski. "Coming from a state that is a
major seafood producer, it only makes sense to take reasonable steps now to
safeguard the environment from the unnecessary release of mercury that can
affect fish and potentially those who eat fish."
"As much as one-third of the mercury air pollution
entering the U.S. comes through the global air transport from Asia, and our
legislation will eliminate a key source of that mercury," Representative
Allen said. "Much of the fish Americans eat, including tuna, comes from
waters off the coast of Asia and from South America. Although Maine has enacted
strict state legislation controlling mercury pollution, an advisory still warns
Mainers not to eat or to limit their consumption of locally caught fish. Only
federal law can control pollution resulting from atmospheric transport of
mercury still in widespread use elsewhere in the world. Mainers deserve to know
that they can safely eat fish, whether imported from abroad or caught instate,
without fear of toxic mercury contamination."
"As Chairman of the Senate Environment Committee,
this bill has been one of my highest priorities, and it is a clear example of
Senator Obama's leadership on issues that are important to our families,"
said Senator Barbara Boxer.
Mercury is a potent neurotoxin that can cause serious
developmental problems in children, ranging from severe birth defects to mental
retardation. As many as 630,000 children born annually in the U.S. are at risk
of neurological problems related to mercury. In adults, mercury can negatively
affect vision, motor skills, blood pressure and fertility. As many as 10
percent of women in the U.S. of childbearing age have mercury in their blood at
a level that could put a baby at risk.
The Mercury Export Ban Act will:
-Prohibit the commercial export of elemental mercury from
the United States in 2013.
-Prohibit the commercial sale or transfer of federal mercury stockpiles held by
the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense for any purpose except
for transfer into permanent storage.
-Provide for permanent storage of collected mercury by the Department of
Energy.
This legislation is supported by the Natural Resources
Defense Council, Environmental Council of the States, American Chemistry
Council, the National Mining Association, and the Chlorine Institute.
Source: Senator Barack Obama