Washington, D.C. - Mr. Speaker, I want to thank the gentleman from Maine (Mr. Allen) for his leadership on this important issue. And I want to tell the gentleman a good news/bad news story.
First the good news: Just this morning, a bipartisan group of Members of Congress from the Chesapeake Bay watershed states got together and established the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Task Force. The Chesapeake Bay is one of the greatest natural treasures in the United States, indeed in the world. We came together to pledge to work to clean up the Chesapeake Bay and take the steps necessary to meet certain pollution reduction goals. That’s the good news; now, the bad news. The Bush administration proposal to loosen restrictions on mercury emissions takes us in the wrong direction; it takes us backwards; it lets major polluters off the hook; and it will make it more difficult to achieve our pollution reduction goals in the Chesapeake Bay.
Mercury contamination has made fish unsafe to eat in many areas, especially for children and pregnant women. As a result, mercury consumption advisories have been issued throughout the United States. In my state of Maryland, we have had statewide advisories. In Pennsylvania -- another state in the Chesapeake Bay Watershed -- there is a statewide advisory. Recent studies have shown that Maryland is one of the states with the highest deposition of mercury in the country due to airborne mercury emitted from power plants. But this problem is not unique to Maryland and the Chesapeake Bay watershed. It is a problem up in Maine. It is a problem in Washington State. It is a problem around our country. Currently, advisories for mercury are increasing faster than for any other pollutant. In fact, mercury poisoning now accounts for 60 percent of all fish advisories nationwide.
How has the Bush Administration responded to this national problem? By proposing to relax the restrictions on mercury pollution and making polluters less accountable. Mr. Speaker, as my colleague from Maine was pointing out, we have an Administration that, when it comes to issues of science and the environment, wants to ignore the facts. We have scientists, we have Nobel laureates, we have a consensus of opinion throughout the scientific community coming down on one side of an issue; and yet time and again the Administration throws out the facts, buries its head in the sand, and decides to go the other way. The White House has become an evidence-free zone.
Mercury contamination is something that affects people throughout this country. Pregnant women and children are particularly vulnerable to mercury poisoning. So the Bush administration plan to establish a cap-and-trade program for mercury, which may be an acceptable proposal for less poisonous pollutants, is a dangerous approach when we are dealing with highly toxic substances like mercury. What the Bush Administration is saying to people who happen to live next door to a mercury emitting power plant is that it does not matter if they are exposed to high levels of mercury so as long as the power plant buys pollution credits from somewhere else. In other words, the power plant can buy the right to pollute and put high levels of mercury into the air around their plant. That may be good for polluters, but it is a health disaster for families living in the area around the power plant. Again, it is one thing to treat less poisonous pollutants that way, but to take a hazardous substance like mercury and say go ahead and pollute, go ahead and contaminate the air and water in a particular area, will result in serious health problems throughout the country.
This is not a Republican issue or a Democratic issue. This is a health issue important to all Americans. Yet the Administration is siding with very narrow special interests at the risk of endangering the health of millions of Americans. We need to make sure that the American people understand what is happening. We have an Administration that does a lot of photo-ops with beautiful landscapes in the background. There is a lot of rhetoric from the Administration about the importance of preserving our environment, protecting areas like the Chesapeake Bay and safeguarding our health. But while we have this great public relations campaign in support of environmental protection, when it comes to actions, this Administration is busy unraveling environmental and health protections that have existed for years. It is the difference between words and deeds. The American people are tiring of an Administration that says one thing and does another.