Would You Like Some Mercury With That?

You see, our waters are polluted. Our air is polluted. Even our most "pristine" lands preserved in our national parks are polluted.

There is no escaping it. We are polluted. And, we are polluted because we all live downwind from someone.

Although many of us would like to think that we inhabit a relatively "clean" patch of ground, the truth is that we are all connected for better or worse. And, at this point, it is primarily for the worse.

Did you know that cement plants release 23,000 pounds of mercury into the atmosphere every year?

That's right. 23,000 pounds!

And, it all has to come back to the ground at some point.

You might think, "O well, the Earth is a big place and 23,000 pounds isn't that much." You also might think that the Easter Bunny is real, the Pope sh*ts in the woods, and the Cubs will win the World Series this year. But, seriously, it only takes ONE TEASPOON of mercury to contaminate an entire lake!

Earthjustice has just released a new report detailing the failure of the EPA to control mercury emissions from these cement plants. It is sad to say, but the EPA didn't even know exactly how much mercury was even being released until last year.

And, if this news makes you want to ban all cement and cement products from you life, you might want to take a look at how your electricity is being generated.

Over half of all the electricity generated in the United States comes from coal-burning power plants.