Saturday, February 21, 2009

Nations to Write Treaty Cutting Mercury Emissions

The Washington Post reports:

More than 140 countries have agreed to negotiate a legally binding treaty aimed at slashing the use of the metal mercury, with the goal of reducing people's exposure to a toxin that hampers brain development among infants and young children worldwide. The agreement, announced at a high-level United Nations meeting of environmental ministers in Nairobi yesterday came after Obama administration officials reversed U.S. policy and embraced the idea of joining in a binding pact. Once the administration said it was reversing the course set by President George W. Bush, China, India and other nations also agreed to endorse the goal of a mandatory treaty. The Bush administration had said it preferred to push for voluntary reductions in mercury emissions because the process of negotiating a treaty would be long and cumbersome. Achim Steiner, executive director of the U.N. Environmental Program, said yesterday's announcement marks the culmination of a seven-year effort to address a significant environmental and public health problem...

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It is indeed a positive change to find that some political consensus is finally being made here. The Reality will depend more upon the publicity that journalists provide to the alternatives to mercury use. Science has provided many possibilities for both biological and chemical alternates. Will the public be invited to be involved in these selections? Will they even take an interest to encourage their politicians and manufacturers? If you want this to succeed, and not just replace one toxin with another, be open to finding the answers and sharing them with your political rep and the businesses which must effect the changes. Regulation seldom works by itself.