Members of several environmental groups standing on the steps of the Capitol Rotunda; Left to right Drew McDowell, Dick Whiteford, Dr. Bernie Greenberg, Barbara McIlvaine Smith, and Gerald Gabel.

"Thanks to the hard work of many different organizations and individuals, we have won an incredible victory!" exclaimed a recent email from our Sierra Club PA Chapter. Legislation had been introduced in both the state House (HB 2610) and Senate (SB 1201) to prohibit DEP from adopting a Pennsylvania mercury rule which would force the state to fall back on the weak federal mercury rule. Last week, the bills were defeated by an organized effort of environmental activists.

On June 5th, five of us from the Chester County Chapter of the Sierra Club traveled to Harrisburg to lobby our legislators to fight for what is right - tougher regulations requiring coal-fired power plants to reduce their mercury emissions by 90 percent in PA. Armed with the facts, we asked our elected officials for their support. In the 156th District, when the House and Senate took a vote this past week, only newly elected Senator Andy Dinniman stood with us.

These are some of the facts we presented:

1. Pennsylvania power plants are the second biggest emitters of toxic mercury pollution in the country. The Fish and Boat Commission has issued advisories that cover every lake, river and stream in the state that warns people to limit eating fish caught here.

2. Toxic mercury pollution from power plants threatens the health of women and their babies. More than 600,000 women of childbearing age nationwide have amounts of mercury in their blood over the level set as safe by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Academy of Sciences. These unsafe levels can interfere with the proper development of babies' brains and neurological systems and can lead to learning disabilities, attention deficit disorder, problems with coordination, lowered IQs and even mental retardation.

When I represent YOU in Harrisburg, you can trust that I will vote FOR a cleaner, healthier environment which in turn will protect the health and well-being of ALL Pennsylvanians.