NEWS RELEASE: Monday, May 14, 2012
CONTACT: Stephanie Cepak, (517) 862-2036
LANSING – Michigan moms and kids delivered a Mother’s Day message to Attorney General Bill Schuette on Monday, telling him to stop supporting corporate polluters like he’s doing in a new federal lawsuit that seeks to overturn important power plant emission controls for mercury, arsenic and other air toxics.
The group of Michigan moms and kids marched to Schuette’s Lansing office to protest the lawsuit and delivered Mother’s Day cards.
Schuette filed the lawsuit on behalf of 19 other states in the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, despite previous claims of his advocacy for the Great Lakes. It’s the second time Schuette has sided with corporate polluters regarding the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Mercury and Air Toxics Standards.
“The EPA’s rule will significantly reduce mercury, arsenic and other harmful emissions the power plants have been allowed to discharge into our air and water for decades,” said Elizabeth Hammel-Hauptmann, mother of one and resident of Hamburg. “Mercury is a known neurotoxin that harms the development of children. Bill Schuette should know it’s not okay for families to be exposed to this pollution.”
Mercury from power plants is deposited into Michigan waterways where it is converted into methylmercury and eaten by fish. Pregnant women are urged to limit fish consumption because methylmercury is a neurotoxin that impairs a child’s learning ability.
“Fish advisories are not enough to protect Michigan families from this pollution,” said Alisha Deen-Steindler, mother of two and resident of Royal Oak. He should be fighting for our families, not protecting corporate polluters.”
The Mercury and Air Toxics Standards will reduce emissions by 90 percent starting in 2015. It’s the first national rule for reducing this type of pollution. Power plants are currently the largest source of mercury emissions in the United States.