Greenpeace Boston volunteers joined with allies this week to deliver over 639,000 public comments collected to support the EPA’s rules to restrict mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants. This was the culmination of a three month campaign to collect comments from the public. To view the Boston.com article, click here.
The rule would require coal and oil burning power plants to cut their mercury emissions by 91 percent. The petitions were collected by over two hundred organizations, including Greenpeace, Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and U.S. Climate Action Network.
Speakers at the event included members of the NAACP, Boston’s Environmental Commission, and the EPA. President of the New England NAACP chapter, Juan Cofield spoke about the threat that coal burning power plants have on impoverished communities. After naming the various health problems coal burning causes, such as chronic bronchitis, growth defects, kidney failure, and learning disabilities, he said, “enough is enough, stronger safeguards are overdue and now is the time to implement the strengthened standards to protect our communities.” Curt Spalding, administrator of the EPA for the Region, spoke about the importance of grassroots power in our democracy.
The proposed mercury emission standards will be finalized in November, and the power plants would need to upgrade their equipment in order to comply with the new regulations.
The deadline to submit the comments is August 2nd. To sign the petition and add your voice, please click here.
For more information or to get involved with Greenpeace in Boston, please contact David Lands at [email protected] or follow us on Facebook.
