"Tuna on White - Hold the Mercury"
On April 22, 2004, the 34th anniversary of Earth Day, the League of Conservation Voters delivered a bag of tuna sandwiches to the Bush-Cheney campaign headquarters in Arlington, Virginia to highlight the Bush Administration's proposed mercury rule.

Letter Accompanying the Sandwich Delivery:

April 22, 2004

Ken Mehlman
Bush-Cheney '04 Inc.
2107 Wilson Blvd
Arlington, VA 22201

Dear Ken:

On the 34th anniversary of the first Earth Day, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) would like to treat you to the enclosed tuna fish sandwiches.

We want to reassure you that even though the Bush Administration continues to pursue policies that allow extensive toxic mercury pollution, which has been scientifically linked to tuna - these tuna sandwiches are safe to eat because we told the deli to 'hold the mercury.'

Now, we know that the Food and Drug Administration has warned pregnant women and children to limit the amount of tuna they eat so we felt obligated to put warning labels on each sandwich.  But using Bush Administration spin and distorted science, we figured if a deli can 'hold the mayo,' maybe they could 'hold the mercury.'

We all know that the reason the Bush Administration tossed out a Clinton Administration plan to drastically reduce mercury pollution is because of the influence of Bush Pioneer and Ranger campaign donors who are lobbyists and executives in the utility industry.   In fact, the Bush EPA's proposed mercury rule was written by a revolving door utility industry lobbyist - sections of it verbatim from industry memos.

Unfortunately for America's families, over 35 million people - including 3.4 million children - live within 10 miles of a mercury emitting power plant owned by the largest industry polluters.  It's a travesty that these polluters got a special, secret Energy Task Force chaired by Vice-President Cheney to rewrite our clean air laws - but all America got was more pollution, toxic fish and food warnings for our children.

Last week, EPA director Mike Leavitt flippantly dismissed the mercury issue and 'mothers who feed their children sandwiches with tuna fish.'  Well, LCV wants to wish the Bush-Cheney campaign a nice lunch of tuna fish sandwiches because we and our partners in the Environmental Victory Project are going to spend the next six months doing everything we can to defeat George Bush, elect John Kerry and fight to make sure that every mother in America can safely feed her children.

Enjoy the sandwiches!

Sincerely,
 

Mark Longabaugh
Senior Vice President for Political Affairs, LCV