Thursday, November 15, 2007

US House Votes to Ban Mercury Export, But Wait, White House Opposes

And so it goes. Rep. Tom Allen, D-Maine, proposed a bill that would ban the export of highly toxic mercury and force federal agencies to find permanent storage facilities for their stockpiles. This House vote on H.R. 1534 was so unanimous it carried on a voice vote. Sens. Barack Obama, D-IL, and Lisa Murkowski, R-AK, have introduced a companion bill in the Senate.

But even with bi-partisan support the Bush White House opposes the measure. From the AP article below;

The White House said in a statement that an export ban might lead to more mining and an increase in the release of mercury into the environment.

I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, but that makes no sense to me. How could banning the availability of the substance used in mining gold lead to more mining and an increase of mercury emissions? Someone explain that rationale to me, please.

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