Continuing a trend of environmental actions Americans can be proud of, the Obama Administration announced its support yesterday for a legally-binding global treaty to phase out the use of toxic mercury.
The policy was unveiled by the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for environment and sustainable development, Daniel Reifsnyder, at the start of a major U.N. gathering of environment ministers in Kenya.
About 6,000 tons of mercury enter the environment every year–about a third of which comes from the burning of coal for power generation.
Mercury is a heavy metal known to damage the human nervous system and causle liver damage and memory loss.
"Neither the United States, nor any other country, can achieve sufficient reductions of mercury risks to protect the health of its citizens without serious cooperation internationally to reduce global mercury emissions," Reifsnyder said.
U.N. Environment Program (UNEP) is urging ministers to make a decision at the meeting in Kenya to begin working towards reducing demand for mercury in industrial products and processes. UNEP also seeks to cut emissions to the atmosphere and clean up contaminated sites.
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The Obama administration also agreed today to review whether it should regulate carbon dioxide emissions from coal-fired power plants, a move that would be a major reversal of the Bush administration’s policy on global warming.
This is the third Obama administration action that reverses or reconsiders Bush-era environmental policies.
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