WE BELIEVE

The minimum federal Clean Air Mercury Rule doesn’t go far enough or fast enough to tackle Indiana’s mercury poisoning problem.

You’re a very bad driver. So bad that you never follow the speed limit. But the law allows you to drive 20 mph over the speed limit because you have bought good-driver credits from someone who always drives 20 mph under the speed limit.

Sound preposterous?

It’s the sort of scenario that’s playing out across the nation when it comes to factory mercury emissions standards. The minimum federal Clean Air Mercury Rule includes a provision that enables plants that fall below their mercury cap to bank or sell emission credits to plants that exceed their cap.

Nonsense, isn’t it?

Unfortunately, Indiana is poised to adopt the Mercury Rule, which has already been adopted by about half the states. The Indiana Air Pollution Control Board voted early this month to preliminarily adopt it. On the surface, the measure sounds like significant progress. It would require a 66-percent cut in the state’s mercury emissions by 2018. However, because of the credit provision, the state wouldn’t actually meet that goal until more like 2025.

And the Hoosier state is starting from an unenviable, unhealthy position. We rank third-worst in mercury emissions in the United States, thanks to the 23 coal-fired power plants within Indiana’s borders. These provide 95 percent of our state’s electricity. The power-plant smokestacks huffed three tons of mercury into the atmosphere in 2005.

Then when it rains or snows, mercury gets mixed into Hoosier waterways, where it fouls fish meat. When people eat that meat, they risk suffering severe illness. It’s particularly dangerous for pregnant or nursing women. Their offspring can suffer irreversible brain damage or nervous system damage from ingesting mercury-tainted fish.

The state puts out advisories on which fish are safe to eat and which present the danger of mercury poisoning. However, the poorer population in the state tends to eat more river-caught fish and be less aware of the advisories. At this point, if you don’t keep track of advisories, it would be safest to assume that no fish caught in an Indiana river is safe for consumption.

Some would argue that the vast majority of Hoosiers do not eat fish taken from Indiana waterways anyway. But mercury is a larger concern. States that have a reputation for polluting suffer an image problem, which hinders economic development. And there certainly is something — from an ethical standpoint — to be said for not poisoning the natural environment.

Those who support the Mercury Rule argue that a more stringent measure would drive up the cost of energy, hitting Hoosiers hard in the pocketbook and driving away businesses that would be attracted by cheap energy.

They make an important point. But shouldn’t our first priority be quality of life? In the long run, good quality of life is as powerful as cheap energy when it comes to attracting good employers and good employees.

The Hoosier Environmental Council has presented a plan (rejected by the Indiana air pollution board) that would cut the state’s mercury emissions by 90 percent within the next three years. That’s more like it.