Mercury drift From China's Coal Plants in Oregon Rivers

Cheap coal is the world's most widely used energy source due to its abundance and availability. The cheap power source has fueled economic growth in booming economies like China and India. It has literally lifted millions of people out of poverty.

China's use of the power source is creating a major problem pollution wise, not only in China but in surrounding countries and even as far as the United States. It is estimated, that it takes between five and ten days for the pollution from China to drift to Oregon. China is in fact home to 20 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world. Oregon has thus been subjugated to the negative impacts of China's pollution.

According to the Associated Press and the Department of Environmental Quality in Oregon, twenty percent of the mercury levels in the Willamette River are from China. How can we ever attack the mercury issue in our fish and water if countries from the east aren't trying to cut back on their greenhouse emitting ways.

China is making some progress, by claiming that it will retire 50 gigawatt's of energy (8 percent of its total grid) from inefficient power plants by 2010. The Chinese government has also mandated that ten percent of its energy come from renewable sources like wind, solar, and hydro-electric by 2010. However, China hasn't kept up with all of its environmental promises in the past so it's hard to say whether China can keep its new mandates.

As an Oregon resident that lives very near the Willamette River, I am very concerned about the present and future health of Oregon rivers. It is unacceptable to have to deal with other countries bad habits. I can only hope that new technologies in biology or perhaps nanotechnology will be able to tackle the dangerous mercury problem we all try to avoid.