The usual spin-laden and almost meaningless emissions from the Environmental Energy Project:
The state of Wisconsin is home to two of the top 50 most-polluting power plants in the country, according to a new report from the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project.
The report lists and ranks U.S. power plants by the amount of the dangerous neurotoxin mercury emitted by the plants. Milwaukee-based Wisconsin Energy Corp.'s 1,200-megawatt plant in Pleasant Prairie ranked 40th in total mercury emissions in 2007 with 535.5 pounds, while Madison-based Alliant Energy Corp.'s 500-megawatt Columbia generating station in Portage ranked 48th with 487 pounds of mercury emitted in 2007. Compared with 2006 emissions, the Pleasant Prairie plant's emissions fell by 27 percent, while the Portage plant's emissions rose by 5.25 percent.
Umnnnhhh....
A meaningful "report" would list the plants not by total emissions, but by emissions/MW. It's not hard to see that WE's plant emits far less/MW than does Alliant's.
Secondly, while the presser says "most-polluting," it ignores any OTHER sort of pollution besides mercury. So are we to take it that no other emissions are important, or that there ARE no other emissions besides mercury?
This, of course, is all "for the chil'ruhn"....
Mercury is a highly toxic metal that, once released into the atmosphere, settles in lakes and rivers, where it moves up the food chain to humans.
The Centers for Disease Control has found that roughly 6 percent of American women carry mercury concentrations at levels considered to put a fetus at risk of neurological damage, the nonprofit group said.
Note well that the Project's presser does not get into details about the actual levels of mercury 'carried by 6% of women' (what about MEN, hey?), nor whether CDC's 'risk' assessment is empirically demonstrated.
But hey! This is a Doyle-Ite engineering job.
Electricity is just too damn dangerous to be sold to the peasants.
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But hey, don't forget the little fact that the Enviro-whacko's love and solution to incandescent lightbulbs, the CFLs, all contain mercury.
But that is never brought up.
Andy, every time I see something about CFLs, it mentions the mercury. Can you find examples that don't?
Really?
Hrm.
Ok.
Well then, when I'm reading about why one should switch over to CFLs, as in things like guides, ways to go green, etc, etc, none of THEM ever mention it.
Nor did my school when they switched all their light bulbs over.
Maybe I'm looking in the wrong places?
I believe that WE Energies' new plant currently under construction will be one of the cleanest in the country. But don't quote me on that...:)
Apples to oranges here, but a year ago Chicago community organizers made a huge stink about an Indiana BP refinery dumping mercury in Lake Michigan. The total discharge was two (2, yes II!) pounds per year. Bravo Foxtrot Delta.
If I recall correctly, BP cancelled an expansion of that refinery over the flack they received about the mercury.
Tribune link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/services/newspaper/premium/printedition/Friday/chi-mercury_27jul27,0,660106.story
I had to buy lightbulbs yesterday--every single package mentioned they contained mercury, but didn't mention birth defects.
(Also, the advocates of CFL lie when they tell you you get "the same light". The "200W equivalent" puts out 2800 lumens; a real 200W bulb puts out 3600 lumens. That's 23% less light. After the incandescent ban, I'm going to have to buy more lamps.)
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