Good deal.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm has ordered Michigan’s environmental regulators to develop new rules on mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants aimed at reducing emissions by 90% by 2015.
The 90% goal would exceed mandates under review by the federal government intended to reduce the amount of mercury in the atmosphere and the human food chain. Granholm has been under pressure by environmentalists to deliver on a 2002 campaign promise to crackdown on mercury emissions.
Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Robert McCann said Monday the new rules will aim at aggressively reducing emissions while providing industry with some flexibility on meeting the goal.
Consumers Energy spokesman Dan Bishop said his company has been and will continue to be a “constructive participant” in DEQ-led discussions about mercury.
Emissions from power plants are believed to be a significant source of mercury contamination in the environment, and are blamed for, among other things, warnings for pregnant women to avoid eating many fish caught in the Great Lakes and Michigan’s inland waters.