<Your Name>
<Your Address>
<Your contact information (e-mail, phone number)>

<Date>

<Name of Recipient>
<Address of Recipient> 

Dear <Name of Recipient>:

My name is <Your Name> and I am one of the citizens living in <Your State> who cares about protecting our wildlife, and our natural world around us.  I am writing you to show my concern pertaining to the mercury contamination of our air and water.  Mercury pollution descends from air pollution and then seeps into our waterways and then into the rest of the food chain.  Currently, the largest source of mercury emissions is from the U.S. coal-fired power plants, the type that will be relied on more heavily as power deregulation continues  (Urlwire, 2004).   

Rather than finding a way to combat mercury emissions, the Bush administration seems to be avoiding the issue at hand, and some plants emissions could even become worse (Ocean Conservancy, 2001).  How is this helping to protect public health?  There is no reason for power plants to be allowed to pollute and they should be forced to purchase the technology that helps to reduce the amount of mercury emitted into the atmosphere. 

The cap-and-trade system, proposed by the EPA to combat mercury emissions scares me because it is not really a solution.  Some power plants will reduce their emissions a little, but a number of plants will stay the same, or they could even increase their emissions!  I urge you to use your voice to force power plants to reduce their emissions of mercury to the greatest extent possible.  The law as stated right now requires the reduction, and the earth and the people who inhabit it deserve a save place to live, so I urge you please let’s stop the mercury emissions from old dirty coal-fired power plants. 

Sincerely,

<Your Name>

Ocean Conservancy, 2001.  What’s at stake: EPA Proposes Continued Mercury Poisoning. Retrieved on April 19, 2004 from http://actionnetwork.org/campaign/emplanation.

Urlwire, 2004. NRDC Provides Mercury Contamination Information Site. Retrieved on April 19, 2004 from http://www.urlwire.com/news/031904.html.