Mercury and Mountains

Organic Matter provides more careful analysis.

Using a new chart comparing the mercury regulations of the 1970 Clean Air Act to those just issued by the Environmental Protection Agency, Chris makes it easy to see exactly how much weaker the new regulations are. More interestingly, though, he briefly explains why the mercury cap-and-trade program is such a bad idea. Mercury is a relatively weighty element and, as such, it doesn't stay in the atmosphere for long. Therefore, all mercury emission results in local pollution. The burden isn't shared, making cap-and-trade less sensible than strict mandatory caps.

Also, check out Organic Matter's recent post on global warming misinformation and Mt. Kilimanjaro. We "greens" really have to do a better job of fact-checking, rather than rushing to the presses with poorly researched material.