How the crown capital eco management reacts on Minnesota coal plants cut mercury in half?
 

And this has been happening all these years? Sure, some eager environmentalists may have raised the warning but private and government agencies may not have been so open or serious about addressing the problem. Otherwise, the source of the problem should have been attacked without let-up. As in many cases, we try to prevent the dam from breaking when the hole is almost beyond repair. Or is the problem really that serious? Is mercury the real culprit or just one among so many that we use in processing in plants and in manufacturing consumer products? If so, what are the other products and their ill-effects?

“That mercury can transform into highly toxic methylmercury in wetlands, lakes and rivers, building up in fish and in animals, including loons and eagles — and humans — that eat fish.” – duluthnewstribune.com

Minnesota regulatory officials said Monday that the state’s coal-fired power plants have cut their mercury emissions by more than half over the past 15 years as the state tries to limit its residents’ exposure to the toxic metal. The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency held a media event at a Twin Cities power plant to herald the effort of cutting mercury from 1,850 pounds per year in the 1990s to about 870 pounds today.

PCA Commissioner John Link Stine said the goal is to cut power-plant emissions to less than 200 pounds by 2016, and he praised Duluth-based Minnesota Power and Twin Cities-based Xcel Energy for their effort to cut back on mercury.

This is a real problem that affects thousands and even millions of people. Fortunately, unlike earthquakes and other natural calamities, it can be faced and solved through the close cooperation of nations through a common decision to limit or eliminate the use of toxic chemicals such as mercury. But how did we not learn early on how to avoid this environmental nightmare? Were we really that ignorant or negligent of our own self-interests? And are we still that clueless and mindless as to continue doing the same things? We probably deserve all these diseases we have.

Gone are the days when we simply teach kids how to admire and emulate inventors and discoverers. I used to be so impressed with Madame Curie’s brilliance and her sacrifices in the field of radioactivity. But now, I sometimes wonder why anyone would go through all the trouble of exposing one’s self to radiation – or dying at that -- in order to discover the properties of certain elements and chemicals. And knowing such things are so dangerous, why do people in the know not try to keep them from being used or spread as if they were merely laundry-water thrown into rivers and lakes or fart happily released into the atmosphere? I think I know the answer: Gold can only be extracted using mercury. Money often comes with a little or a lot of poison.