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.