===============================
THE DAILY MIS-LEAD
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1316866&l=12118
===============================
IN THIS MIS-LEAD:
1. SPECIAL GUEST: Tracking Bush's Greenwashing at Greenwatch
2. TODAY'S MIS-LEAD: White House Debates Mercury Policy Behind Closed Doors
----------------------------------------------------------------
1. SPECIAL GUEST: Tracking Bush's Greenwashing at Greenwatch
In a special edition of Misleader today, we bring you a story from a new Web
site - just launched today - BushGreenwatch.org. BushGreenwatch is another
MoveOn-supported site dedicated solely to tracking the Bush Administration's
environmental misdeeds. Sign up for the daily emails now at http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1316866&l=12119.
----------------------------------------------------------------
2. TODAY'S MIS-LEAD: White House Debates Mercury Policy Behind Closed Doors
Today is the EPA's deadline to announce its plan for regulating mercury from
coal-burning power plants. A leaked draft indicates it will downgrade
mercury as a toxin while weakening efforts to clean up mercury emissions.
This weakening comes just days after the Food and Drug Administration
announced that it plans to warn women of child-bearing age and children to
limit consumption of canned tuna because of high levels of mercury, which
can cause learning disabilities and other serious problems in fetuses and
young children.
On Dec. 5, the White House summoned EPA and FDA officials to discuss the
awkward timing of the contradictory mercury announcements. White House
officials wanted the two agencies to brief them "to ensure federal
communication about mercury risks can be defended," according to the trade
publication Inside EPA.
"No one's saying what happened at the meeting," Michael Bender, director of
the Mercury Policy Project, told BushGreenwatch.org. "What we do know is
that President Bush's EPA is slated today to formally announce a dramatic
weakening of emission limits for mercury, a potent poison for children and
the unborn, from coal burning. It presents the appearance, and perhaps the
reality, of allowing children to be poisoned for the sake of campaign
contributions."
President Bush has been by far the top recipient of campaign contributions
from electric utilities since 2000. White House records show that while
utility representatives were invited to discuss the mercury emission
proposal with the White House several times this fall, no consumer or public
health groups were included.
Mercury is emitted by coal-fired power plants and is converted into a more
toxic form when it hits water, where it accumulates in fish. When people eat
contaminated fish, like tuna, they ingest the toxin. Canned tuna is the
most-consumed fish by women and children, the most vulnerable population,
Bender said.
So who benefits from the Administration's mercury rules?
Southern Company, for one. Five of the coal-burning utility's executives or
lobbyists are also among the elite group of President Bush's fundraising
Pioneers, having raised $100,000 each toward his 2004 campaign. Anthony
Alexander of FirstEnergy also is a Pioneer, as is Matthew Rose of Burlington
Northern, which makes money mining and shipping coal. Richard Davidson of
Union Pacific, another coal miner and shipper, has done even better: he has
raised over $200,000.
Read the Mis-Lead -->
http://daily.misleader.org/ctt.asp?u=1316866&l=12120
===========================================================
Subscribe to the Daily Mislead! Go to http://www.misleader.org and enter
your e-mail address in the "Receive the Daily Mislead" box in the
top-left corner of the page.
To unsubscribe send an email to latest@daily.misleader.org with only the
word "remove" in the subject line of your e-mail, or visit
http://daily.misleader.org/unsubscribe/ and follow the instructions
listed there.
