Solar power to the people

Lower mercury emissions and steady electricity prices. Too could to be true? You decide. A company called CitizenRe is making an offer to rent solar panels, instead of just selling them. All you have to give is a $500 refundable deposit, and you'll pay the same rates you're paying now, except they will stay steady for 25 years. Are they for real? Go to their website to find out more. They haven't started installing yet, but you can put your name on the list for when they do.

Either way, would love to see this kind of innovative thinking from JEA.

Welcome to our OCEAN, notice there is no P in it, please keep it that way

Well, of course, unlike a pool, a person or two who is too lazy to run to the bathroom won't make that much of an impact. But, seriously, as a society, we are using our oceans as the planet's toilet. This is from a recent ad in April's Outside magazine...

"When you look beneath the surface...the oceans are in trouble. Tuna are so contaminated with mercury from air pollution that the government warns pregnant women and children to limit consumption."

Learn More, Take Action - visit patagonia.com/oceans

Good enough is never enough

...and, according to many, the EPA's regulations aren't even good enough. From the April issue of Outside Magazine, about Eliot Spitzer, the Governor of New York...

"Last June, Spitzer joined a coalition of 15 other state governments to go after the EPA itself - for at least the third time. The goal was to stop electric companies from producing the 48 tons of mercury that poison waterways and fish and sicken up to 600,000 children each year. The suit is still pending, but given Spitzer's record, the EPA has reason to be nervous."

Surprisingly, with its abundance of waterways ripe for being degraded by mercury pollution, Florida was not among those states. Contact Florida governor Charlie Crist at charlie.crist@myflorida.com and tell him to join this lawsuit.

When you eat a fish, you don't just eat that fish, you eat every fish that fish has ever eaten

Which is why long-living fish are the most contaminated with mercury. Its called bio-accumulation. Long-living fish have more mercury because it builds up in them, from all the smaller fish they eat. And then, it builds up in you. Which is why "Good Housekeeping" asked "How safe is seafood?" in its April issue. And excerpt...

"The biggest health hazard is mercury, a toxic heavy metal linked to neurological problems in developing fetuses and children. Long-living fish have the highest concentrations of mercury. Last fall, reports from both the Institute of Medicine and the Harvard Medical School agreed with a 2004 governmental advisory that four mercury-tainted fish - shark, swordfish, tilefish (also called golden snapper or golden bass), and king mackerel - should never be eaten by pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and kids under 12."

"If you're adding more seafood to your family's diet, vary the menu to reduce the risk of mercury contamination from a single source; choose low-mercury varieties like catfish, shrimp, and scallops; and switch to chunk light tuna, which usually averages one-third the mercury levels of albacore."

In addition, in an article called "Know your fish," Good Housekeeping said...

"While the FDA and EPA issued a joint advisory in 2004 warning against the dangers of consuming specific mercury-contaminated fish, it applied only to three vulnerable groups: women who are of may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and children under 12. But after vetting information and warning from a variety of experts and non profit organizations, concerned with levels of mercury and PCBs, we concluded that there is a significant body of concerned consumers currently limiting their fish choices."

"The Safest Choices
These fish and shellfish are low in mercury, PCBs, dioxins, and other contaminants.
Catfish (U.S. farm-raised), Clams, Cod (Pacific), Crab, Haddock, Halibut (Pacific), Herring, Lobster, Mahimahi, Mussels, Oysters, Pollack, Salmon (wild, canned), Sardines, Scallops, Sea bass, Shrimp, Squid, Tilapia, Trout (farm-raised), Tuna (canned light)"

"Be Very Cautious With These
According to both the EPA and the FDA, women who are of may become pregnant, nursing mothers, and children under 12 should avoid these fish because of the levels of mercury contamination in them.
King mackerel, Shark, Swordfish, Tilefish (also called golden snapper and golden bass)"

Said it before and said it again, until we clean up mercury emissions, you have to be conscious of what you eat. Stay safe out there.

Mercury needs to be addressed

I am not a specialist on mercury. I certainly want to see cost-effective ways to address all varieties of pollution; however, I do not see "zero pollution" as feasible or reasonable. Certainly, demand side management and conservation are two ways to reduce the demand for electricity. Renewables can fill some niches, but at present many of the technologies are not competitive with fossil fuels. When the U.S. (including Florida) really begins addressing CO2 issues, we will start to see a shift away from fossil to higher cost technologies (including carbon sequestration): that will help. At some point, we probably need to get nuclear back into a balanced energy portfolio. In the meantime, mercury needs to be addressed.

Environmental policy-makers must be aware of the relationship between changes in impacts in one medium and changes in impacts in other media. For example, reducing airborne emissions of mercury will also lead to reduced mercury concentrations in rivers and lakes. However, it may also be the case that reducing ozone precursors from auto emissions by using methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) leads to increasing harm to bodies of water as the MTBE precipitates out in rain. Good stewardship of resources, including the environment, demands that we base decisions on the best science available and that we identify the trade-offs requiring tough choices. Electricity prices need to reflect the higher costs associated with abatement activities.

Sanford Berg
Distinguished Service Professor, Economics and Director of Water Studies, PURC University of Florida

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JEA - Step in the right direction, but where's the beef?

According to the Florida Public Interest Research Group, Jacksonville has the highest levels of mercury emissions in the state. Mercury is a dangerous neurotoxin, especially to women and children, and one of the major reasons we can't eat the fish we catch in our city's waterways. Almost all of our mercury emissions come from JEA.

So JEA's recent move to add a small environmental impact fee, along with charging the largest users of electricity extra, is a step in the right direction. But, like all of JEA's rate increases - what are we going to get for it? Its easy to commit to extra fee after extra fee, its hard to act to change these problems. That's why Mercury Falling is calling for JEA to commit to lowering mercury emissions by the same amount it increases rates. This way, at least we get something for our money. JEA has no competition, this is the only way we'll see some return for our money. And then, maybe, one day, we can actually we can eat the fish we catch.

Read the full story "Revised JEA plan raises rates a little more" from the Florida Times-Union.

These people want your vote, give them a piece or your mind UPDATED LIST

...and protect your mind. Tell them to force JEA to lower mercury emissions every time it raises rates. Here is the updated list after March 20th election, it includes current council members, winners from the March 20th election, and those still in the race for the runoff in May. Simply copy and paste addresses of those you want to email into your email program and tell them what you think. Or, an even easier option is below!
Mayor
John Peyton - jpeyton@coj.net
City Council
At Large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell - RonnieF@coj.net
At- Large Group 2
Robert J. Harms - harmsforcitycouncil@yahoo.com
Jay Jabour -jay@jayforjax.com
Elaine Brown (incumbent, not running) - ElaineB@coj.net
At-Large Group 3
Lad Daniels (incumbent, not running)- LDaniels@coj.net
Stephen Joost - ?
At-Large Group 4
Kevin Hyde - KHyde@coj.net
At-Large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson - GloriousJ@coj.net
District 1
Clay Yarborough (elected Mar 20) - sbclay@yahoo.com
Lake Ray (current) - LRay@coj.net
District 2
Bill Bishop (elected Mar 20) - bill@electbillbishop.com
Lynette Self (incumbent, not running) - LSelf@coj.net
District 3
Richard Clark - RClark@coj.net
District 4
George Banks - banks_george@yahoo.com
Don Redman - donredman@bellsouth.net
Suzanne Jenkins (incumbent, not running) - SuzanneJ@coj.net
District 5
Art Shad - AShad@coj.net
District 6
Sean Reichard - sean@votereichard.com
Jack Webb - Jack@VoteJackWebb.com
Sharon Copeland (incumbent, not running) - SCopelan@coj.net
District 7
Carolyn Anderson - CarolynAnderson2007@yahoo.com
Dr. Johnny A. Gaffney - jag_gaffney@comcast.net
Pat Lockett-Felder (incumbent, not running) - PFelder@coj.net
District 8
E. Denise Lee (elected Mar 20) - EDLee0630@yahoo.com
Gwen Yates (incumbent, not running)- GYates@coj.net
District 9
Warren Anthony Jones - wjredcaps@bellsouth.net
Fred Engness - FredEngness4District9@yahoo.com
District 10
Mia Jones- MJones@coj.net
District 11
Jack Daniels - JACKDANIELS7@COMCAST.NET
Ray Holt - ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com
Warren Alvarez (incumbent, not running)- WAlvarez@coj.net
District 12
Daniel Davis - DDavis@coj.net
District 13
Arthur Graham - ArtG@coj.net
District 14
Michael Corrigan - Corrigan@coj.net
Dave Siebert - daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

If you don't have time to craft your own email to candidates, here is a suggested note you can just copy and paste into your email. Of course, feel free to revise as you see best. Also, below the note you will find a list of all candidates' email addresses divided by commas. Simply copy and paste the entire list into the "To:" field of your email program.

Dear Candidate,
I am writing you to ask you to support the Mercury Falling initiative, which calls for JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in the country for mercury emissions (according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse, the report found that virtually all of our county's emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station. JEA disputes this self-reported data as an overestimation. Even so, the numbers are huge, and how much have emissions grown in the past five years? According to Folioweekly, "in 2005, the last year for which data is available, JEA released 322 pounds of mercury into the air, enough to deliver the daily
exposure limit of 300 micrograms of mercury a day to 486,666,666 people."

Mercury is considered harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young brains, and is known to cause attention deficits, memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ. Exposure to high levels of mercury may cause loss of motor function and irreversible nerve and kidney damage. Mercury emissions may harm Jacksonville's economy in other ways as well. For example, Jacksonville is well known for the annual Kingfish Tournament, but state health officials recommend people never eat large kingfish because they contain so much mercury.

JEA is a public utility and its board of directors is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. That is why it is in your control to do something about this problem and pledge your support to the Mercury Falling initiative.

Thank you,

And here is a list of candidates' and current council members' emails you can post in the "To:" field of your email program...
jpeyton@coj.net, RonnieF@coj.net, harmsforcitycouncil@yahoo.com, jay@jayforjax.com, ElaineB@coj.net, LDaniels@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, sbclay@yahoo.com, LRay@coj.net, bill@electbillbishop.com, LSelf@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, banks_george@yahoo.com, donredman@bellsouth.net, SuzanneJ@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, sean@votereichard.com, Jack@VoteJackWebb.com, SCopelan@coj.net, CarolynAnderson2007@yahoo.com, jag_gaffney@comcast.net, PFelder@coj.net, EDLee0630@yahoo.com, GYates@coj.net, wjredcaps@bellsouth.net, FredEngness4District9@yahoo.com, MJones@coj.net, JACKDANIELS7@COMCAST.NET, ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com, WAlvarez@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net, daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

March 20th is election day...VOTE!

Tomorrow, March 20th, is election day in the city of Jacksonville. The mayor appoints and the city council approves JEA's board of directors, so whoever we send to office will have a huge say over how clean our air and water is. The following city council candidates have indicated they are for lower mercury emissions:

• Leslie A. Goller: Candidate for City Council,District 5 -- click here for her comments
• Linda Storey: Candidate for City Council, District 4 -- click here for her comments
• James Evans Muhammad: Candidate for City Council, District 10 -- click here for his comments

"Bad officials are elected by good citizens who do not vote." -- George Jean Nathan

NEW! Mercury Falling wiki!

Help our city and our city-owned utility come up with innovative ways to lower our mercury emissions, which are the highest in the state, through the new Mercury Falling wiki. A wiki is a tool that allows for collaborative authoring, so visit now and let's fix this problem!

Today's three seconds of wisdom...
"I can remember when the air was clean and sex was dirty."
-- George Burns

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name

Here's what The Onion, a satirical newspaper (i.e. this is just a joke folks), had to say about the EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule...

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name

March 23, 2005 | Issue 41•12

WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name. "We're not really 'environmental' anymore, and we certainly aren't 'protecting' anything," Johnson said. "'The Agency' is a name that reflects our current agenda and encapsulates our new function as a government-funded body devoted to handling documents, scheduling meetings, and fielding phone calls." The change comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services' January decision to shorten its name to the Department of Services.

Please note, The Onion is satirical and this is just a joke. Of course, as writer Larry Gelbart has said, "Most jokes state a bitter truth."

Cut-and-paste

Include: Image Blurb

Preview

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name

WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name.

Copy and paste this code into a new post in Blogger, MySpace, or any other blog tool. It will display this Onion headline, picture, and teaser copy on your page, depending on what you select above.

It's up to you to write the rest of the blog post.

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name

March 23, 2005 | Issue 41•12

Cut-and-paste

Include: Image Blurb

Preview

EPA To Drop 'E,' 'P' From Name

WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name.

Copy and paste this code into a new post in Blogger, MySpace, or any other blog tool. It will display this Onion headline, picture, and teaser copy on your page, depending on what you select above.

It's up to you to write the rest of the blog post.

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WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name. "We're not really 'environmental' anymore, and we certainly aren't 'protecting' anything," Johnson said. "'The Agency' is a name that reflects our current agenda and encapsulates our new function as a government-funded body devoted to handling documents, scheduling meetings, and fielding phone calls." The change comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services' January decision to shorten its name to the Department of Services.

WASHINGTON, DC—Days after unveiling new power-plant pollution regulations that rely on an industry-favored market-trading approach to cutting mercury emissions, EPA Acting Administrator Stephen Johnson announced that the agency will remove the "E" and "P" from its name. "We're not really 'environmental' anymore, and we certainly aren't 'protecting' anything," Johnson said. "'The Agency' is a name that reflects our current agenda and encapsulates our new function as a government-funded body devoted to handling documents, scheduling meetings, and fielding phone calls." The change comes on the heels of the Department of Health and Human Services' January decision to shorten its name to the Department of Services.Please note, The Onion is satirical and this is just a joke. Of course, as writer Larry Gelbart has said, "Most jokes state a bitter truth.

One fish, two fish, clean fish, goo fish

According to the April issue of Town & Country "Mercury isn't a new threat, but the more we know, the worse it looks." Which is why they pointed readers to the NRDC's Consumer Guide to Fish, an excellent resource for finding out which species of fish have the most mercury contamination.

Act now or forever pay higher rates?

The EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule is scheduled to go into effect in 2010, and if we don't lower mercury emissions now, will its cap-and-trade rules forever doom us to higher rates? Will we be paying more to make our city dirtier? To see how JEA's past actions have brought us higher rates today, read "Rate hike will flip switch on JEA's debt: You'll pay more than $7,800, 60 percent more than similar companies to help reduce it" a recent article in the Florida Times-Union that details JEA's past heavy reliance on debt, and how that has lead to recent rate hikes. So, the question remains, what will JEA's current reliance on dirty, mercury-spewing power lead to in the future? As Napoleon has said, "Strategy is the art of making use of time and space. I am less concerned about the latter than the former. Space we can recover, lost time never." Let's get to work now lowering these mercury emissions, before the EPA's new rules hit us with an even bigger bill.

The Thermals support the Mercury Falling plan

Consensus is building around the nation for lower mercury emissions in Jacksonville. The latest to sign on is Portland, Oregon band The Thermals. Here's what lead singer/guitarist Hutch Harris had to say in a recent interview with Mercury Falling...

You were offered a lot of money to have one of your songs featured in a Hummer ad, but you said no. Why? Don't you know how important money is?

I actually hadn't realized how important money is until right now. I better call Hummer back and give 'em the go-ahead. But seriously, what could be worse than shilling for Hummer? Sound tracking army recruitment ads? How about a public service ad with the simple message, "Destroy the planet now! Faster!"

Non-thermal plasma based removal could possibly remove over 90 percent of mercury emissions from existing coal-fired utility boilers to provide clean, competitively priced power from existing coal-fired generating plants. Which brings us to our next question, where did you get the name for the band? Was the original name "non-thermal plasma based removal,"and you just shortened it to The Thermals?

Well, these questions have more "funny" than I expected. The original name for the band was The Non-Thermals, but we decided The Thermals was catchier. We're all for reducing mercury emissions, but really we named ourselves for hot air and cute underwear.

As the saying goes, you can't fight city hall. Well, Mercury Falling isn't trying to fight anyone, just convince politicians and our public power company that there's a better way, as visionary activists have done throughout our history. What activists most inspire you?

I'm not going to name any because I don't want to be a hypocrite. We are not activists by any means. We've received a lot of positive attention for turning down Hummer's money, but remember we didn't do anything. We did nothing and got a lot of credit for it. We didn't get up on a soapbox to trash Hummer or to take a stand, for or against anything. We made a very personal decision, so we ourselves wouldn't feel like disgusting whores. It's brilliant that so many people have been inspired by our decision, but it is a very small, simple thing in our eyes.

A bright idea

Recently Folioweekly's Bouquets & Brickbats section gave Beaches Energy Services a bouquet for "persuading customers to conserve energy through an old-fashioned giveaway. Beaches Energy recently sent out electric bills with a free 13-watt compact fluorescent bulb - one that emits as much light as a 60-watt incandescent builb, but lasts 10 times longer and prevents more than 450 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions in its lifetime." And likely reduces mercury emissions as well. Sounds like pretty innovative thinking for an electric utility. Et tu, JEA?

We're not the only ones trying to lower mercury emissions

Mercury emissions are a national concern, one several other states have already acted on. Here's another blog, from Chicago, that's looking to address this problem - All Things Mercury Emissions. Here is that blog's posting on our effort...

Jacksonville, Florida Local Efforts To Tie Mercury Emissions Reductions to Rate Increases

Another Mercury Blogger "Mercury Falling" in Jacksonville, FL is petitioning the City Council to tie rate increases by their local utility to mandatory mercury reductions in the same percentage. Dan thinks following the Federal CAMR is not good enough, and because of the cap-and-trade allowance, will potentially lead to a worse situation locally.

I agree with Dan's concerns, but feel if rates go up 10% and thus mercury reductions only go down 10% it will take too long, or cost too much, to get to where they should be anyway. Other States like Illinois, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, etc. have passed State laws mandating 90% reductions in mercury emissions with no cap-and-trade allowances with timeframes much faster than CAMR. This may not be politically possible in Florida, and every effort locally, statewide, nationally and internationally to reduce mercury pollution should be applauded.

Global mercury contamination in our environment is now getting the attention it deserves. My next post will address the recently released findings of the Eighth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant, held last August in Madison, WI. Keep up the fight Dan, and all you others, remember "think globally, act locally," it is the best we all can do.

Mercury pollution doesn't just hit us in the brain, it hits us in the wallet

Mercury certainly is a contaminant of concern, especially due to its bioaccumulation in finfish and shellfish tissues. Due to that bioaccumulation, humans being at the top of the food chain are the "resting place" for such contaminants.

The true contaminant of concern is not so much elemental mercury, but Methyl-Mercury; a toxic and dangerous form. I have done research on the Chesapeake Bay and mercury bioaccumulation is an extreme danger. This becomes a problem not only for human health, but also for socio-economic reasons! When the health risks become extreme, fisheries must shut down. Now, this changes the whole system: jobs are lost and an area where its economy is based around fishing production, collapses. So you can see, that cleaning up toxic contamination is not simply to prevent human health impacts, but there is a strong economic variable. Environmentalist or Non-Environmentalist, something SHOULD be done. It is important to impose management strategies to decrease current issues and prevent future impacts so that future generations have the proper resources. My point is, environmental remediation is not only for the ecosystem, but it is for the overall economic prosperity and smooth running nature of the socio-economic system. Sustainability is the key; it is the future.

Eric Rubin
Environmental Scientist - "annonymous" Environmental Consulting Firm
B.A. Geography "The George Washington University"
M.A. Environmental Management "Montclair State University"

The EPA's guidelines might make Jacksonville's situation even worse

Thank you to mayoral candidate Jackie Brown for her thoughts on mercury emissions. But Mercury Falling believes that adhering to the EPA's guidelines simply isn't enough. In fact, the EPA's guidelines might even worsen our plight here in Jacksonville. Here's why. The EPA's Clean Air Mercury Rule, which would go into effect in 2010, is a cap-and-trade, market-based approach to lowering mercury emissions. That is, utilities who emit less mercury can sell credits to utilities who emit more mercury. Where do you think JEA will fall? So, if we don't clean up our mercury pollution now, not only will we have the health effects of that pollution, but we might actually find ourselves paying cleaner utilities for the right to pollute. And what do you think that will do to your electric bill every month?

Also, according to a recent Washington Post article, "Under the Clean Air Mercury Rule, power plants in some regions may emit more mercury than others, which has prompted some to question whether the new system will result in mercury hot spots across the country." What areas are in danger of becoming hotspots? According to a researcher in the article, "A coal-burning plant in a wetland area would have far greater impact on human health and wildlife than a coal-burning plant in a dry, grassy area." Have you seen where JEA's plants are located?

From Mayoral Candidate Jackie Brown

As Mayor, I would do everything in my power to ensure that all agencies effectively adhere to the guidelines set forth by the EPA. The health and quality of life of every citizen of this city would be my number one priority, no exceptions.

Sincerely,

Jackie Brown

Candidate for Mayor

And the mercury pollution is just the beginning...

JEA St. Johns River Power Park/Northside Generating Station is in the top 10% of the dirtiest facilities in the U.S. for total environmental releases, cancer risk score (air and water releases), and noncancer risk score (air and water releases). These statistic can be found on Scorecard, The Pollution Information Site. Read the full report here. Will cleaning up our mercury emissions have the positive side effect of cleaning up other emissions from this facility as well?

Mercury Falling Questions of the Week

Data compiled from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2003 Toxic Release Inventory ranks Duval County first in the state for mercury emissions, and the St. Johns River Power Park and the Northside Generating Station alone were the source of 599 pounds of the emissions, accounting for 20 percent of the state total. What do we have such a large share of the state's mercury emissions?

What technologies exist right now that would help lower these emissions? Can we lower mercury emissions by buying different coal?

This is open source advocacy folks, post your findings here.

Is a private equity buyout of JEA the answer to lower mercury emissions?

Seems to be the answer to cleaner skies in Texas. Could a private equity buyout clean up our skies? Mercury Falling's position is no. A public utility is a good thing. JEA has no shareholders to answer to, only us, the residents of Jacksonville. What do you think?

From Andy Johnson, host of "Down to Business" radio show, former member of the Florida House

Dear Mercury Falling:

I am glad to hear there is such a group and/or blog as mercuryfallingjax. I salute you and I am FOR your work.

Very few people in Florida, and, particularly, very very few people in Jacksonville, understand that our health is at risk due to the high levels of mercury in our food, especially our seafood, probably mainly due to mercury coming indirectly from our coal-fired plants and our mass-burn garbage incinerators.

One wonderful way to boost this mercury, if that is the goal, would be for us to build more of the stupid and nearly-insane mass burn garbage incinerators.

Sounds good, doesn't it? Sounds very good to make garbage just disappear into the air and to generate electricity, too, through mass burn garbage incineration?! But mass-burn garbage incineration is a terrible thing when anyone looks at the facts. ONE of many reasons to put an absolute stop to any more of these monsters is...that these monsters put mercury into the air which then comes back through the system, more and more concentrated, in mother's milk, cow's milk, our food, our seafood, etc.

Jacksonville people need to ponder the frightening fact that our Mayor and our unanimous Council and our unanimous Board of the Chamber and the unanimous Board of the local Home Builders and of the local REALTORS and the Times-Union...were all in 100% agreement that our city needed to build the BIGGEST DAMN MASS-BURN GARBAGE INCINCERATOR IN THE ENTIRE FREE WORLD back in 1988, 1989.

Thank God the people with brains eventually did prevail on this topic and, finally, the Council repented and the project was killed.

However, somebody needs to write that chapter of history and we need to hear some open comments from the big big mass-burn boosters. Do they now all admit they were wrong? Or are they still over on the sidelines, engines running, ready to do other equally bad things to us if we let them have a chance?

I say all that to say this. The very first step in dealing with mercury in Florida must be that there be a total stop, forever, to the building of any new mass burn garbage incinerators. (There are many other evil aspects to this fight. We'll stop with mercury for now.)

2. The second stop must be that we do more research.

3. The third step must be that we become very very very skeptical about building more coal-fired plants in Florida. We need to consider all forms of renewable energy. We need to learn more about the possibilities in conservation and in improved efficiency. And, frankly,

we must also look at more nuclear power.

4. We need to consider spending some money to jazz up the existing coal-fired plants in Florida to help them belch out less poison, including mercury poison.

5. We need to act like stewards of this earth, which is of course the honest way to describe how ALL major religions look at the relationship of humans to the earth. Stewardship is what is needed! Global warming, mercury poisoning, other forms of air pollution, and the absolutely finite aspect of fossil fuels...are all reasons we need to make adjustments quickly to become less dependent on fossil fuels.

Sincerely,

Andy Johnson

Now even easier! If you've only got two minutes to change the world, try this

If you don't have time to craft your own email to candidates, here is a suggest note you can just copy and paste into your email. Of course, feel free to revise as you see best. Also, below the note you will find a list of all candidates' email addresses divided by commas. Simply copy and paste the entire list into the "To:" field of your email program. And you can still choose to write individual candidates with your own message by clicking here.

Dear Candidate,
I am writing you to ask you to support the Mercury Falling initiative, which calls for JEA to lower mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates. Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in the country for mercury emissions (according to the Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse, the report found that virtually all of our county's emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park and Northside Generating Station. JEA disputes this self-reported data as an overestimation. Even so, the numbers are huge, and how much have emissions grown in the past five years? According to Folioweekly, "in 2005, the last year for which data is available, JEA released 322 pounds of mercury into the air, enough to deliver the daily
exposure limit of 300 micrograms of mercury a day to 486,666,666 people."

Mercury is considered harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young brains, and is known to cause attention deficits, memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ. Exposure to high levels of mercury may cause loss of motor function and irreversible nerve and kidney damage. Mercury emissions may harm Jacksonville's economy in other ways as well. For example, Jacksonville is well known for the annual Kingfish Tournament, but state health officials recommend people never eat large kingfish because they contain so much mercury.

JEA is a public utility and its board of directors is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. That is why it is in your control to do something about this problem and pledge your support to the Mercury Falling initiative.

Thank you,

And here is a list of candidates' and current council members' emails you can post in the "To:" field of your email program...

jpeyton@coj.net, info@jackieformayor.com, RonnieF@coj.net, tgraham2007@comcast.net, harmsforcitycouncil@yahoo.com, jay@jayforjax.com, ElaineB@coj.net, LDaniels@coj.net, KHyde@coj.net, GloriousJ@coj.net, cgrymes@cherylgrymes.com, sbclay@yahoo.com, LRay@coj.net, dave@davebaldwinforcitycouncil.com, bill@electbillbishop.com, jay@olchak.com, LSelf@coj.net, RClark@coj.net, banks_george@yahoo.com, earl@earl4jax.com, donredman@bellsouth.net, voteforstorey@aol.com, SuzanneJ@coj.net, AShad@coj.net, l.goller@att.net, hutchersonc@comcast.net, sean@votereichard.com, Jack@VoteJackWebb.com, SCopelan@coj.net, CarolynAnderson2007@yahoo.com, jag_gaffney@comcast.net, marthacpellino@comcast.net, PFelder@coj.net, LJSpates@yahoo.com, Doveoutreach333@cs.com, GYates@coj.net, EDLee0630@yahoo.com, jimmy@jimmyforcitycouncil.com, w8ngtwoxl@hotmail.com, drvalveta@bellsouth.net, MJones@coj.net, jameselection@bellsouth.net, berryrl@comcast.net, JACKDANIELS7@COMCAST.NET, tsd13456@juno.com, thomas_harris@bellsouth.net, ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com, mike@voteformikesaylor.com, bobtaylor@bobtaylordistrict11.org, WAlvarez@coj.net, DDavis@coj.net, ArtG@coj.net, Corrigan@coj.net, farmout@bellsouth.net, daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

From Linda Storey - Candidate, City Council, District 4

I completely oppose the high levels of mercury in our air and water. I also oppose the JEA being allowed to raise the rates without voter approval or city council approval. JEA needs to give back their excessive "bonuses" to JEA and they need to eliminate all their wasteful practices. This will more than pay for their needs, but the taxpayers of Jacksonville should be given a rate reduction! Especially those who are conserving on energy! We have not done enough with solar energy. Why hasn't the JEA put solar panels on all the schools in Jacksonville, saving about $100,000.00 of taxpayers money per school? The JEA needs to eliminate the mercury emissions by 70% by 2008.

What's our multiplier?

Can a crackdown on diesel engine pollution be a guide to the benefits of cutting mercury emissions in Jacksonville? The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing to all but eliminate the soot and smog-related emissions of locomotive engines and similar diesel engines used in ships. And EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson was recently quoted as saying that he estimated the health benefits will be 20 times the estimated cost of this proposal. What's our multiplier? How much do we have to gain by reducing mercury emissions in Jacksonville?

The cost of doing nothing

OK, we all know that by 2009 JEA customers will have seen six rate hikes totalling about 50 percent since 2004. But could rates go even higher if we doing nothing to lower mercury emissions. According to the article "Businesses Rethink Carbon Curbs" in the March 3-4 Wall Street Journal, business such as Wal-Mart and GE are calling for mandatory curbs on greenhouse gases, possibly creating a "cap-and-trade" carbon market. In the article, under a section entitled "Who wins and loses in a carbon market?", The Journal says, "Utilities in the Southeast and Midwest that rely on coal-fired power plants are lobbying for a higher cap or more permits to offset what would otherwise create steep price increases because coal releases more carbon emissions than any other fuel. Conversely, West Coast and Northeast states that rely on cleaner fuels could be more insulated from higher energy costs." Now, mercury emissions and carbon emissions are not one and the same, but might the same things JEA does to reduce mercury (such as burning cleaner fuels, making a bigger efficiency push, and investing renewable energy) reduce carbons emissions as well? And might such investments today protect us from even greater costs down the road? The only thing worse than guaranteed higher prices is when those higher prices themselves are increased.

Prove Bill wrong!

Journalist Bill Vaughan has said, "America is a land where a citizen will cross the ocean to fight for democracy and won't cross the street to vote in a national election." Prove him wrong, vote in the local elections from now through March 20. You can see a list of supporters on the right hand side of this blog. Vote for them and make a real difference!

From Leslie A. Goller, Candidate for City Council, District 5

Yes, of course I support reduction of mercury emissions -- that just makes good sense -- and your proposal to lower JEA's mercury emissions by the same amount it raises rates is a sound one. I have already fought for lower mercury emission levels by JEA and other industries and I will continue to do so. I too believe that government must lead by example. A large part of the emissions levels by JEA is caused by its fuel source -- I fought against it using petcoke. I also fought against and stopped the permitting of all new medical waste incinerators (another
large source of mercury emissions) and got increased regulation concessions on existing ones -- ones that they eventually could not meet, which caused them to shut down. It is paramount that we reduce mercury emissions for our health, our quality of life, our environment, and economic
responsibility.

From James Evans Muhammad, Candidate for City Council, District 10

My position is simple: Save the Earth's Resources - Environment (Land Water, Air and Human Life)

1. Lets invest time and money in alternative fuel sources that will
not continue to damage the ecosystem. Lower the emissions must be priority - Yes.

2. Mercury levels need to be reduced, with a well thought out plan of action I believe we can reduce these levels as well as reduce cost to consumers. (This is a serious issue that must be addressed).

3. Alternative transportation is an issue that needs to be addressed for Jacksonville and the entire state. Again, the issue of alternative fuel sources is a concern. (My recent visit to pollution city Detroit is an example of improper management of fuel sources).

How do candidates feel about Jacksonville being the #1 mercury polluter in the state?

We will soon find out. Mercury Falling has just written every candidate in Jacksonville's mayoral and city council elections (every candidates with an easily attainable email address that actually works, that is) to see if they support forcing JEA to lowers it mercury emissions by the same amount it increases rates. When candidates respond, Mercury Falling will post their positions here. In the meantime, scroll down on this page and email the candidates yourself.

These people want your vote, give them a piece of your mind

...and protect your mind. Tell them to force JEA to lower mercury emissions every time it raises rates. Simply copy and paste addresses of those you want to email into your email program and tell them what you think.
Mayor
John Peyton - jpeyton@coj.net
Jackie Brown - info@jackieformayor.com

City Council
At Large Group 1
Ronnie Fussell - RonnieF@coj.net
At- Large Group 2
Theresa Graham - tgraham2007@comcast.net
Robert J. Harms - harmsforcitycouncil@yahoo.com
Jay Jabour -jay@jayforjax.com
Elaine Brown (incumbent, not running) - ElaineB@coj.net
At-Large Group 3
Lad Daniels (incumbent, not running)- LDaniels@coj.net
Stephen Joost - ?
At-Large Group 4
Kevin Hyde - KHyde@coj.net
At-Large Group 5
Glorious J. Johnson - GloriousJ@coj.net
District 1
Cheryl Donelan Grymes - cgrymes@cherylgrymes.com
Clay Yarborough - sbclay@yahoo.com
Lake Ray - LRay@coj.net
District 2
Dave Baldwin - dave@davebaldwinforcitycouncil.com
Bill Bishop - bill@electbillbishop.com
Jay Olchak - jay@olchak.com
Lynette Self (incumbent, not running) - LSelf@coj.net
District 3
Richard Clark - RClark@coj.net
District 4
George Banks - banks_george@yahoo.com
Earl Johnson - earl@earl4jax.com
Don Redman - donredman@bellsouth.net
Linda Storey - voteforstorey@aol.com
Suzanne Jenkins - SuzanneJ@coj.net
District 5
Art Shad - AShad@coj.net
Leslie A. Goller - l.goller@att.net
District 6
Charles Hutcherson - hutchersonc@comcast.net
Sean Reichard - sean@votereichard.com
Jack Webb - Jack@VoteJackWebb.com
Sharon Copeland (incumbent, not running) - SCopelan@coj.net
District 7
Carolyn Anderson - CarolynAnderson2007@yahoo.com
Kenneth Arnold - ?
Irvin “PeDro” Cohen - ?
Dr. Johnny A. Gaffney - jag_gaffney@comcast.net
Martha C. Pellino - marthacpellino@comcast.net
Pat Lockett-Felder (incumbent, not running) - PFelder@coj.net
District 8
E. Denise Lee - EDLee0630@yahoo.com
L. Jerome Spates - LJSpates@yahoo.com
Rebecca Balkcom Zeigler - Doveoutreach333@cs.com
Gwen Yates (incumbent, not running)- GYates@coj.net
District 9
E. Denise Lee - EDLee0630@yahoo.com
L. Jerome Spates - LJSpates@yahoo.com
Rebecca Balkcom Zeigler - Doveoutreach333@cs.com
Jimmy Midyette, Jr. - jimmy@jimmyforcitycouncil.com
Elouise Saunders Bolden - w8ngtwoxl@hotmail.com
Valveta Turner - drvalveta@bellsouth.net
District 10
Mia Jones- MJones@coj.net
James Evans Muhammad - jameselection@bellsouth.net
District 11
Dick Berry - berryrl@comcast.net
Jack Daniels - JACKDANIELS7@COMCAST.NET
Frank Hardin - tsd13456@juno.com
Tom Harris - thomas_harris@bellsouth.net
Ray Holt - ray@rayholt4citycouncil.com
Ray Pringle - ??
Michael Saylor - mike@voteformikesaylor.com
Bob Taylor - bobtaylor@bobtaylordistrict11.org
Warren Alvarez (incumbent, not running)- WAlvarez@coj.net
District 12
Daniel Davis - DDavis@coj.net
District 13
Arthur Graham - ArtG@coj.net
District 14
Michael Corrigan - Corrigan@coj.net
James “Jim” Minion - farmout@bellsouth.net
Dave Siebert - daveforcitycouncil14@yahoo.com

We're #1 (and that really stinks)

Duval County has the abysmal honor of ranking first in
the state for emissions of mercury with 21% of
Florida's total, according to a 2002 EPA Toxic Release
Inventory (TRI). And this in a state ranked 11th in
the country for mercury emissions (according to the
Florida Public Interest Research Group.) Even worse,
the report found that virtually all of our county's
emissions were from JEA's St. Johns River Power Park
and Northside Generating Station. JEA
disputes this self-reported data as an overestimation.
Even so, the numbers are huge, and how much have
emissions grown in the past five years? According to
Folioweekly, "in 2005, the last year for
which data is available, JEA released 322 pounds of
mercury into the air, enough to deliver the daily
exposure limit of 300 micrograms of mercury a day to
486,666,666 people."

Most embarrassing of all, we can't just shrug our
shoulders and blame some faceless corporation. JEA is
a public-owned utility, we have only ourselves to
answer to. On the upside, we can make a difference.
Specifically, you the Board of Directors of JEA can
turn Jacksonville's black eye into a story to be proud
of.

So what's the big idea behind Mercury Falling?
The proposal is simple. The JEA Board of Directors
would pass a measure that states, for every rate
increase, JEA must reduce mercury emissions by the
same amount. For example, a 10% rate increase would
necessitate a 10% decrease in mercury emissions. JEA
has no competition, its only spur of innovation and
fairness is you, the board. This measure would force
JEA to not only innovate and improve power sources (to
get more power from cleaner sources than the current
favorite, petroleum coke, one of the dirtiest
options).

Why it matters so much to Jacksonville
1. Education costs -- everyone talks about how poor
Jacksonville's schools perform. Are the massive
mercury emissions a factor? Mercury is considered
harmful to all parts of the brain, especially young
brains, and is known to cause attention deficits,
memory and language impairment, autism, and low IQ.
How much are these mercury emissions costing Duval
County's schools in remedial education expenses and
lost funding.

2. Health care costs -- With effects from h igh-levels
of mercury such as loss of motor function and
irreversible nerve and kidney damage how much do the
massive mercury emissions cost our local health care
system?

3. Current and future borrowing and regulatory costs
-- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. is so certain that looming
global warming regulations are looming, that it has
recently created the J.P. Morgan Environmental
Index-Catbon Beta, adjusting grades of corporate bonds
by how much issuing companies will be effected by
global-warming rules. Companies with worse ratings
could expect to pay higher interest rates on debt.
While mercury and global warming are not one and the
same, any issue taken today to reduce mercury
emissions would likely reduce global-warming emissions
as well. For example, South and Central Florida's FPL
Group Inc., JEA's partner at the St. Johns River Power
Park, gets a higher rating under the global-warming
index than under the standard one, because it has made
a big push into renewable energy. Ask your CFO where
JEA would rank on this index? And how much extra that
will cost JEA for debt issuance.

4. Recreation costs -- Jacksonville is well known for
the annual kingfish tournament, but state health
officials recommend people never eat large kingfish
because they contain so much mercury. Jacksonville is
a fishermen's haven, with a breathtakingly beautiful
river. But, ask yourself, would you eat anything you
caught in the St. Johns?

5. It's simply the right thing to do -- With your
position on JEA's Board of Directors, you have a
chance to make a real difference in the health and
economy of Jacksonville and its hundreds of thousands
of residents. Your vote can change people's lives for
the better. This isn't a massive problem like global
warming or the ozone layer that is beyond our city, as
a public utility you have control over how much toxic
poison we allow in our air. At the end of the day,
when you look in the mirror, do you want to vote fore
less poison, or stay silent?

6. Spur innovation at JEA -- Since it has no
competition, it has no reason to innovate. A measure
like this will force the best out of JEA. For example,
why not put a check box on each month's electric
bill, giving people the option to say, pay $6 extra a
month for that will go towards reduced mercury
emissions? Bowling Green Municipial Utlities has a
program like this, to fund renewable energy.

Or what if JEA set up a division to sell carbon
offsets? This has become an increasingly popular way
to offset carbon emissions used in purchases at
companies like Expedia.com, Travelocity.com,
Gaiam.com, Clif Bar, etc. However, many renewable
energy projects done by carbon offset providers are
now done overseas - Carbonfund in Uganda, Carbon
Neutral in New Zealand, etc. JEA could partner with
companies to offer carbon offsets, then built
renewable energy projects right here in America. Heck,
we've already got the land. How much wind power could
we generate at JEA plants along the river? Or from
windmills atop power polls? And solar energy? All
funded through donations by people who would like to
offset their carbon.

Please email the mayor, the city council, and JEA, and ask them to lower emissions by the same amount JEA raises rates.