Mercury Contamination
Dear Mr. Donald Young,
I am writing you today because I have learned that mercury contamination is becoming a problem in Alaska. Alaska’s wild fisheries are beginning to show mercury contamination from coal plants that are located far away. This is harmful to the people who live in Alaska because fish is the main food source for many people and mercury can easily spread through the food chain causing other food sources to become contaminated too. Some villages in Alaska rely completely on the fisheries and it is big part of their culture. This can be very harmful for the citizens who live there because people can get ill from the mercury that has contaminated the food that we consume. The fact is that Alaska posses about half of the nation's coal reserves. Burning coal to produce power is effective, but also can very harmful for our wildlife. Burning coal creates smog, acid rain, and it is the leading cause to global warming. Even though Alaska is the largest state in the United States it is still very harmful to keep these coal plants going. It is our responsibility to keep Alaska’s plants and animals safe, clean, and away from harsh pollutants. We also can not cause any harm to the people living in parts of Alaska where mercury has contaminated the water. We need to find other ways of producing energy because we can not contaminate and destroy land that has so much to offer for us. In order to keep this land pure and clean we need to reduce or preferably stop the construction of coal plants throughout Alaska’s land. This is our homeland and we need to protect it from becoming contaminated with harmful toxins.
Sincerely, Morgan Rae Barth
I am writing you today because I have learned that mercury contamination is becoming a problem in Alaska. Alaska’s wild fisheries are beginning to show mercury contamination from coal plants that are located far away. This is harmful to the people who live in Alaska because fish is the main food source for many people and mercury can easily spread through the food chain causing other food sources to become contaminated too. Some villages in Alaska rely completely on the fisheries and it is big part of their culture. This can be very harmful for the citizens who live there because people can get ill from the mercury that has contaminated the food that we consume. The fact is that Alaska posses about half of the nation's coal reserves. Burning coal to produce power is effective, but also can very harmful for our wildlife. Burning coal creates smog, acid rain, and it is the leading cause to global warming. Even though Alaska is the largest state in the United States it is still very harmful to keep these coal plants going. It is our responsibility to keep Alaska’s plants and animals safe, clean, and away from harsh pollutants. We also can not cause any harm to the people living in parts of Alaska where mercury has contaminated the water. We need to find other ways of producing energy because we can not contaminate and destroy land that has so much to offer for us. In order to keep this land pure and clean we need to reduce or preferably stop the construction of coal plants throughout Alaska’s land. This is our homeland and we need to protect it from becoming contaminated with harmful toxins.
Sincerely, Morgan Rae Barth