I never would presume to pronounce eternal judgement, but I've always felt there was a special place set aside in the hottest part of hell for those who cause children to suffer. Not so much for those beset by mental illness, who don't really have the ability to control their madness, but for those whose motivation for inflicting their evil is uncaring selfishness and greed; those whose malfeasance or misfeasance is fueled by short-term personal enrichment for themselves or their friends at the expense of others.

Our President's EPA has recently raised the permissible amount of mercury coal fired power plants are allowed to release into the atmosphere, which will then settle into the food, water and air that our children consume. Through artful manipulation of regulation and a supreme exercise in doublespeak, though, they have attempted to make it appear as though they are actually lowering the limits. Existing regulations called for a 90% decrease in the emission of this toxic metal, but the Bush administration changed its classification and lowered the required decrease to 30%.

There is no safe limit of mercury in the human body. I know more than one adult affected by mercury poisoning, and the devastation to them and their families is unimaginable.

It is an undisputed fact that intrauterine methylmercury poisoning causes Congenital Minamata Syndrome, named for the horrific tragedy of the mid-1950s in the Minamata bay area of Japan. A large corporation with the same ethics as our current administration dumped mercury into the bay, causing untold birth defects and debilitating illness and death in adults. I suggest for those who are unfamiliar with the possible effects, the heart-wrenching photograph “Tomoko Uemura in Her Bath” by W. Eugene Smith, which can be viewed at various places on the Internet.

According to The Teratology Society (www.teratology.org), “Children with Congential Minamata Syndrome seem to be normal at birth and begin to present symptoms at approximately six months of age. They have instability of the neck, convulsions, reduced IQ, microcephaly, malformed limbs, restricted growth and an altered cerebellum. In utero exposure to methylmercury induces general brain atrophy and hypoplasia.”

George Bush and his friends feel that an increase in the already obscene profits for the energy companies who financed his campaign are worth the risks to our children. I don’t know about you, but there is no amount of jobs or profits worth the sacrifice of my son’s life or health. I wonder, if Bush’s precious daughters lived in proximity to such poisonous power plants, would he feel that such risks are acceptable.

Even more insulting is that George Bush portrays himself as pro-life, and that a majority of the American people perceives him as an honorable and trustworthy man, according to recent polls. It is plain that he is the ultimate self-promoting opportunist, portraying himself as pro-life to garner the conservative Christian vote with their myopic focus on the abortion debate, while, in order to insure continued campaign support from the coal and energy industries, allowing the emission of millions of tons of poisonous mercury. I see very little honorable or trustworthy about this.

Of course, it is not up to me to judge, but I can't help but believe that every ounce of pain resulting from the mangled limbs, deformed brains and destroyed lives for the sake of energy company profits will someday settle upon the souls of George Bush and his allies in this cause. And, this is one “environmental whacko” who feels that they will deserve every bit of it.

Elliot M. Namay, Jr.

As published in the Charleston Gazette, 1/12/04