The TXU Energy Corporation’s plan to build eleven more coal-fired power plants in Texas, may be headed for more trouble as doctors begin to weigh in on the subject. Physicians not generally known to take mainstream political initiatives, have joined the environmentalists and other concerned citizens in pushing back against TXU and their aggressive energy plans.

The Austin Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility is speaking out against the government sponsored fast-track approval process for new power plants in Texas. This is what TXU is attempting to use to get quick approval of their low-tech, coal burning power plants. According to the physician organization, this expansion of energy plants “will endanger our health.”

Elliot J. Trester, MD and board member of the organization stated in a letter to the Austin American Statesman newspaper… “Texas is already the top emitter of mercury, which is a particulary noxious substance that can lead to neurological problems in growing babies and children, and the coal plants that are proposed will spew mercury, as well as nitrous oxide and sulfur dioxide substances that will lead to more respiratory and cardiac problems for Texans.”




Acccording to Environmental Defense, “this bodes ill not just for Texas, but for the rest of the country, too. State leaders and city mayors are taking decisive actions to curb global warming, and the additional emissions from TXU plants would severely undermine their progress. These new plants would emit 78 million tons of CO2 pollution per year. The proposed power plants are to be conventional (or pulverized) coal-fired, which uses outdated, highly polluting technology.”

As I have written in a previous article on this subject (see “Are Coal Burning Power Plants Making You Sick?”), we are all at risk. You should be just as concerned as these physicians and others who are warning us. I myself, am especially concerned because I have personal experience with mercury poisoning for which I am currently undergoing IV chelation therapy.

Because mercury is not a disease but a “body burden”, diagnosis is often times elusive and difficult. There are untold numbers of people who are being told by doctors that “there’s nothing wrong with you”, because they don’t think to test for heavy metal poisoning. In my case, my symptoms were all over the map. I had numbness and tingling in my hands and feet, chronic fatigue, lapses in memory, decreased brain function other more vague and difficult to describe symptoms.

I was diagnosed with Hashimoto’s disease by an endocrinologist. Fortunately this doctor told me that being that the Hashimoto’s disease is an auto-immune disease, that it could be related to heavy metals. I was shocked and alarmed because there would be no reason or explanation as to exposure in my case. But I wanted to get down to the cause of my disease, so I agreed to be tested and it was confirmed. Thank God I got a diagnosis that lead me to the real cause of my symptoms and with treatment, I am feeling better every day.

But don’t let this happen to you or your children. We should all be concerned with what is being done to our environment from “Big Business” operating with no ethic other than the bottom line. And I agree with Dr. Trester when he states, “We do need power for the future, but with energy conservation, alternative sources and stringent safeguards for coal-burning plants, we will all have bright and healthy futures.”