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6A Daily News –Wednesday, December 28, 2011 Opinion Ahuge, long overdue win for public health D NEWSAILY RED BLUFF TEHAMACOUNTY T H E V O I C E O F T E H A M A C O U N T Y S I N C E 1 8 8 5 Greg Stevens, Publisher gstevens@redbluffdailynews.com Chip Thompson, Editor editor@redbluffdailynews.com Editorial policy The Daily News opinion is expressed in the editorial. The opinions expressed in columns, letters and cartoons are those of the authors and artists. Letter policy The Daily News welcomes let- ters from its readers on timely topics of public interest. All let- ters must be signed and pro- vide the writer's home street address and home phone num- ber. Anonymous letters, open letters to others, pen names and petition-style letters will not be allowed. Letters should be typed and cannot exceed two double-spaced pages or 500 words. When several letters address the same issue, a cross section of those submit- ted will be considered for publi- cation. Letters will be edited. 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How to reach us Main office: 527-2151 Classified: 527-2151 Circulation: 527-2151 News tips: 527-2153 Sports: 527-2153 Obituaries: 527-2151 Photo: 527-2153 On the Web www.redbluffdailynews.com Fax Newsroom: 527-9251 Classified: 527-5774 Retail Adv.: 527-5774 Legal Adv.: 527-5774 Business Office: 527-3719 Address 545 Diamond Ave. Red Bluff, CA 96080, or P.O. Box 220 Red Bluff, CA 96080 It is one of the most important public health measures in a gener- ation, one that will save tens of thousands of American lives. It will protect the IQ of countless American kids, and help clear the air for the millions of Americans with asthma. It may be the biggest health story you've never heard of. I'm referring to the ruling the Obama administration unveiled Dec. 21 to control toxic mercury pollution from coal-burning power plants. These rules have been 21 years in the making, and now, at long last, they will bring Ameri- cans some relief from a pervasive toxin. The United States has always shown good sense when taking on hazardous substances in our envi- ronment. We banned DDT in the 1970s after learning that this pesti- cide was killing birds of prey. We banned lead in gasoline and paint after scientific research proved it was harming our children. We joined the world in banning CFC refrigerants after scientists demon- strated they were depleting the Earth's ozone layer. And we took strong action to reduce sulfur emissions from coal plants, which were poisoning our forests and lakes with acid rain. Now we have taken aim at another Public Enemy: mercury. The president deserves enormous credit for sticking with his plan despite furious opposition from some in the power industry and their allies on Capitol Hill. Why is this such a big deal? For many Americans, it may come as a surprise that mercury contamina- tion is even a problem. Moms will know that doctors warn against eating too much canned tuna, but may not be sure how the mercury gets in the fish. But make no mis- take: this is a public health emer- gency of the first order, and it starts with coal-fired power plants. Every year, U.S. power plants release almost 50 tons of mercury into the environment. When coal is burned, some of the mercury in it deposits locally and some can trav- el hundreds of miles to contami- nate rivers, lakes, animals, plants and ultimately our bodies. Mercury is highly toxic. Mercury exposure, especially in infants and children and devel- oping fetuses, can lead to serious neurological problems, including impacts on thinking, memory, lan- guage and fine motor skills. Scien- tists at New York's Mount Sinai Center for Children's Health and the Environment have estimated that mercury exposure causes reductions in intelligence for between 316,500 and 637,200 American children each year, and also cause disruptions in behavior. Most of these effects will last a lifetime. Many of the other toxic pollu- tants controlled by these rules — such as chromium, arsenic and dioxin — are known or probable carcinogens and can attack the brain, lungs, liver and kidneys. Industry lobbyists have always complained about measures to protect the environment and public health. The Clean Air Act would lead to the "collapse of entire industries," said the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in 1971. Phasing out CFCs would kill the refrigeration business. Removing lead from gasoline would mean huge price hikes. Despite these wild predictions, the sky never fell, the American econo- my continued to prosper, and costs have been far outweighed by the public health benefits. The Clean Air Act, for exam- ple, has dramatically reduced asth- ma attacks, heart disease and other illnesses, saving trillions of dollars in health costs. In fact, for every dollar we spend under the Clean Air Act, we receive more than $30 in benefits. Now some lobbyists are complaining again, about the new mercury and air toxics rule. They claim the rule will lead to blackouts and service cutbacks and cause consumers' bills to sky- rocket and they complain that util- ities don't have enough time to meet the new standards. President Obama and Environ- mental Protection Agency Admin- istrator Lisa Jackson were right to stand firm on this rule. The new regulations will impose some costs, but they will save far more in public health benefits. And several recent studies, including one by the respected North American Electric Reliability Corp., have all concluded that the new rules will not cause electricity reliability problems. And here's what the coal lobby- ists aren't telling you: • Canned albacore tuna has become so contaminated by mer- cury that children under six should be restricted to, at most, one meal a month. Children ages 6-12 should eat no more than two meals a month. Guest View Fred Krupp tants). • States in the Midwest are advising women of childbearing age, and young children, to never eat fish caught in the Great Lakes, because of contamina- tion by mercury (among other pollu- • All 48 of the continental Unit- ed States had mercury fish con- sumption advisories as of March 2011. • Wildlife that prey heavily on fish, including loons, mink, otters, beluga whales in the Arctic and even polar bears in Greenland, are heavily contaminated. The new mercury and air toxi- cs rule has been in the works since 1990 — long enough for the elec- tric utilities to prepare. Many, to their credit, have done just that, and they support the new rules. But a few outliers didn't make the necessary investments, betting they could endlessly delay the new rules. They are the ones mak- ing the most noise and spending the most money. In the last two quarters alone, for example, American Electric Power Co. spent millions lobbying Congress to weaken and delay clean air rules. Sorry, time's up. Twenty-one years is long enough to wait for such a big, life-saving win. Fred Krupp is president of the Environmental Defense Fund. He wrote this for McClatchy-Tribune News Service. Your officials STATE ASSEMBLYMAN — Jim Nielsen (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 6031 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 319-2002; Fax (916) 319-2102 STATE SENATOR — Doug LaMalfa (R) State Capitol Bldg., Room 3070 Sacramento, CA 95814 (916) 651-4004; Fax (916) 445-7750 GOVERNOR — Jerry Brown, State Capitol Bldg., Sacramento, CA 95814; (916) 445-2841; Fax (916) 558-3160; E-mail: gover- nor@governor.ca.gov. U.S. REPRESENTATIVE — Wally Herger (R), 2595 Cean- othus Ave., Ste. 182, Chico, CA 95973; 893-8363. U.S.SENATORS — Dianne Feinstein (D), One Post Street, Suite 2450, San Francisco, CA 94104; (415) 393-0707. Fax (415) 393-0710. Barbara Boxer (D), 1700 Montgomery St., Suite 240, San Francisco, CA 94111; (510) 286-8537. Fax (202) 224- 0454. Why we need better BS Commentary Here's something we can do with less of in 2012: BS. It's all over television, in magazines and in newspapers -- and even in our serious papers, such as The New York Times. It is spouted by politicians and pitched by product spokesmen. Modern life is manufacturing an unprecedented amount of it. BS "is unavoidable whenever circumstances require someone to talk without knowing what he is talking about," writes Harry Frankfurt, philosopher emeritus at Princeton University, who authored "On Bull (expletive)." Thanks to cable television there are numerous opportuni- ties for people to yap about all kinds of things they know noth- ing about. Nowadays, our news folks are almost as bad. It used to be that the press existed to catch folks in the act of BS-ing. But our press has been shoveling out a fair share of its own. Didn't the run-up to the last presidential election show that some of our "objective journal- ists" were in the tank for Obama all along? Republicans have produced a lot of BS, too. During the Bush years, they used words such as "fiscal responsibility" and "lim- ited government," while they wasted more dough and expand- ed government faster than you can say "we're broke." Then again, maybe it's not the BS that bothers us so much — maybe it is that BS is being so practiced so poorly. The truth is BS has a long, proud history in America. Dur- ing our early years, the "tall tale" was an accepted form of BS. Exaggeration lent more credence and color to stories, and yarn-spinning became a celebrated part of American culture. From our beginning we've had our share of snake-oil sales- men and flimflam artists. These scoundrels weren't judged on the rightness or wrongness of their scams so much as the skill with which they practiced their craft. The sorry truth is that we want to be lied to in America. Whereas the truth can be painful, costly and time-con- suming, we're suckers for a skillfully told yarn that puts us at ease and helps us sleep better at night. In America we want our tax cuts and increased spending. We want our politicians to limit spending and build a new bridge in our backyard. We want "free" health care and fatter Social Security checks, and we want somebody else to pay for them. But our politicians and the press are doing a horrible job these days spinning their mistruths. I think it is because they are lazy. I remember the "good old days" when "news" shows, such as "Dateline," went to elaborate lengths to pull one over on us. They rigged up a truck with explosives, then blew it up on- screen. words. We knew he wasn't telling the truth but we didn't care. We loved the way he didn't tell it. As for President Obama, he can't possi- bly believe some of that stuff he is saying - - that his health plan will reduce costs or that he has a strategy to reign in runaway spending -- or does he? Tom Purcell Some time ago, cigarette companies said smoking wasn't bad for us and we believed them. Lyndon Baines Johnson said he was going to end poverty, and we believed that, too. I'm really missing Bill Clin- ton's presidency. He could twist and contort any mistruth into the prettiest and most convincing Heck, I don't know who or what to believe anymore, and I sense millions of others feel just as I do. If our press and political leaders have any hope of restoring their credibility, one thing is for certain. They better come up with a better line of BS. ——— Tom Purcell, a humor columnist for the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, is nationally syndicated exclusively by Cagle Cartoons newspaper syndicate. Visit Tom on the Web at www.TomPurcell.com or e-mail him at Purcell@caglecartoons.com.