John,

Coal-fired power plants are pumping toxic mercury directly into the air, where it can travel for miles before settling onto forests, wetlands and other places both wild and developed.1

Once in the environment, mercury moves through food chains, harms wildlife and poisons habitats. Just tiny amounts can contaminate entire lakes.2

Last year, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) decided to strengthen its limits on mercury pollution. But now the agency may repeal those same protections, which would likely mean more toxic mercury in our air, water and ecosystems.3

Tell the EPA: Keep mercury out of our environment.

It makes no sense to go backward on limiting mercury pollution.

Once it's airborne, mercury falls back with rain and snow, settling into lakes, ponds and rivers and quickly moving through the food web.4

Insects and small aquatic creatures absorb it first. Fish eat these smaller critters, then the big fish eat the little fish and on it goes. Over time, mercury builds up in predators like loons, otters, bass and eagles, reaching levels that disrupt their behavior, disturb reproduction and disorient their survival instincts.5,6

For birds, that might mean fewer eggs laid, nests abandoned too early, or young that don't develop properly. Mercury-exposed loons lay smaller eggs. Songbirds forget their signature calls. Egret chicks become lethargic, even refusing to hunt.7

Meanwhile, fish-eating mammals like seals, river otters and dolphins that have been exposed to mercury have shown signs of reduced reproduction and altered behavior.8 Even massive brown bears that feed on freshwater fish can show the telltale signs of unhealthy mercury exposure.9

When we know mercury poisons wildlife, why on Earth would we allow more of it in our environment? Tell the EPA to stick to its 2024 mercury policy.

People aren't immune to mercury exposure, either.

When mercury is present in the environment, it can eventually reach us through the fish we eat or the air we breathe. In children, even small mercury exposures can cause severe harm to their developing brains.10

In short, mercury can change the very ways kids think, learn and behave.

After our national network delivered 40,000 public comments in 2024, the EPA announced it would cut mercury emissions by more than 60% at the most polluting power plants.11

But, now, just over one year later, the EPA is backtracking.

Add your voice and tell the EPA to protect our air, water and wildlife by keeping mercury limits in place.

Thank you for speaking up against this toxic threat,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Lisa Frank, "Ending mercury pollution should be a no-brainer," Environment America, June 22, 2023.
2. "Prevent Mercury Pollution," Fort Wayne City Utilities, last accessed July 28, 2025.
3. Tracy Wholf and Melissa Quinn, "EPA proposes rollback on rules limiting carbon and air pollution from fossil fuel power plants," CBS News, June 11, 2025.
4. Edwin Aguirre, "UML-led Team Finds Source of Arctic Mercury," UMass Lowell, July 13, 2017.
5. "Mercury Contamination of Aquatic Environments," U.S. Geological Survey, November 13, 2018.
6. Rebecca Kessler, "Mercury's Silent Toll On the World's Wildlife," Yale Environment 360, January 31, 2013.
7. Rebecca Kessler, "Mercury's Silent Toll On the World's Wildlife," Yale Environment 360, January 31, 2013.
8. "Research Finds Dolphins With Elevated Mercury Levels in Florida and Georgia," National Institute of Standards and Technology, June 12, 2024.
9. "Arctic and Subarctic Bears' Exposure to Toxins," National Park Service, May 4, 2023.
10. "Health Effects of Exposures to Mercury," EPA, last accessed July 28, 2025.
11. Lisa Frank, "Ending mercury pollution should be a no-brainer," Environment America, June 22, 2023.