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 A "Huzzah!" to George W. Bush, John Hoeven and the rest of you Republicans. You've reached new records, attained goals and found success in your ventures once again. Congratulations!
The Evironmental Integrity Project is reporting that North Dakota is home to three of the top 50 most aggressive mercury polluting power plants in the United States! Hurray! Not only that, but we're getting worse. Here's a breakdown of how we have faired: | Rank | Power Plant | Owner | County | 2006 | 2007 | Change | %Change | | 17 | Coal Creek | Great River Energy | McClean | 879.19 | 851.1 | -28.09 | -3.30% | | 31 | Antelope | Basin Electric | Mercer | 433.71 | 570 | 136.29 | 23.91% | | 32 | Milton R Young | Minnkota Power | Oliver | 597.84 | 564 | -33.84 | -6.00% | | | | | | 1910.74 | 1985.1 | 74.36 | 3.89% |
(Click here for source material) [FYI: The numbers below the numbers "2006" and "2007" indicate the number of pounds of mercury pumped into the air.]
If it hadn't been for that pesky Antelope Valley Station (AVS) North Dakota would have suffered a negative increase in our power-plant mercury emissions. Thanks to AVS, we gained almost 4% in mercury pollution. Attaboy, North Dakota!!! We can proudly declare that North Dakota is among the "Dirty Dozen" states in the United States!!! And this doesn't even take into account the fact that a couple years ago one of our power plants -- none of the above-listed plants -- won the award for "dirtiest power plant in America" Basin Electric’s Leland Olds plant in North Dakota ranks 35th for sulfur dioxide, 19th for carbon dioxide, 24th for nitrogen oxides, and 37th for mercury emission rates. Therefore, the plant’s combined score is: 35 + 19 + 24 + 37 = 115, identifying it as the most significant emitter using this composite measure. Environmental Integrity Report from 2006
Three cheers for Bush/Republican environmental policies!!! It shouldn't come as any suprise to us that our Republican environmental policies have brought us more mercury. Republicans figure that's a good thing. See, they like the idea of continuing the steady decline in population we're enjoying here in North Dakota. Eventually they're hoping this place can become a sort of man-made dead-zone. Our economic policies are scaring off all the educated young people. If we can just kill or handicap the remaining folks and/or their offspring, we'll all be better off. Right? That'll help John Hoeven's "North Dakota is a great low-wage state" marketing plan. See, mercury causes all kinds of problems for people. For example, one recent study shows there is a statistically significant correlation between autism and proximity to mercury-emitting power plants. Kids and fetuses are in particular trouble when exposed to mercury. Very young children are more sensitive to mercury than adults. Mercury in the mother's body passes to the fetus and may accumulate there. It can also can pass to a nursing infant through breast milk. However, the benefits of breast feeding may be greater than the possible adverse effects of mercury in breast milk.Mercury's harmful effects that may be passed from the mother to the fetus include brain damage, mental retardation, incoordination, blindness, seizures, and inability to speak. Children poisoned by mercury may develop problems of their nervous and digestive systems, and kidney damage. Center for Disease Control
Luckily the Antelope Valley Station is close to a number of North Dakota communities, like Beulah, Hazen and Zap; all within 10 miles of AVS, and a popular fishing area, Lake Sakakawea, about 10 miles to the north. My Google Earth Plus program tells me AVS is only about 50 miles from the Bismarck-Mandan area, and 35 miles from Washburn, as the crow flies. So all these anti-freedom Republicans out there who claim to be fighting to protect fetuses, by supporting the Republicans and their environmental policies, are also supporting environmental policies that permanently harm those very same fetuses. Nice work, single-issue Republican voters! Thanks for supporting the Republican Party. Keep sending your checks and your votes to the GOP. Enjoy that tasty mercury-tainted Lake Sakakawea two-headed walleye. You deserve all the credit in the world for giving us Republican environmental policies that have helped Bush and Hoeven reach their Republican environmental goals.
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