Chris Van Hollen: “the way most people go about planning when they are making major decisions is to take a look at the facts and then…”

“the way most people go about planning when they are making major decisions is to take a look at the facts and then figure out what the policy is based on the facts, not to come down with a politically motivated policy and then try and make up the facts to fit that policy, and this administration has gotten in trouble in many ways with respect to that approach. You really do not want to make a mistake when it comes to something like mercury, because if you make a mistake now, it is something that is going to live with us for many, many years to come. Mercury, on the other hand, is something that stays in the ecosystem for a very long time. We cannot get rid of it overnight. And it stays in the ecosystem, it gets into organisms, it gets into fish and then, of course, it gets into the human food chain and gets into the food we eat, and then eventually can get into the brains of developing fetuses and of children. This is a very, very serious issue, obviously; and it is one where we want to make sure we get the science right, we do our homework before we leap off the cliff.”