Dear Board Member Marble:

REQUEST: Please vote against cap and trade in the new mercury rule this

week and pass the strongest possible mercury rule.

DISCUSSION (reqson for request). When I asked the Electric City Power

Board

members who appeared before your committee here in GF what was meant by

cap

and trade when they supported the concept in their testimony to your

committee, they admitted they did not know, but were backing it because

SME

said that they should.

We, in Great Falls, will suffer most from the mercury poisoning of the

proposed Highwood station. Allowing a weak mercury rule will mean that

we

will be poisoned so others may have energy without being so poisoned.

SME

came before our commission and said that they intended to build the

cleanest

plant required by the state/federal regulations. Both the city of Great

Falls and the County of Cascade have said that although they understand

the

State constitutional responsibility for a "clean and healthful

environment",

they feel that that means that whatever the state sets as requirements

for

mercury emissions they will meet them, but that they are required to do

no

more.

You can see that we are forced to rely on you to adopt a meaningful rule

so

that we will not be poisoned from mercury. Please help by requiring the

strictest rule possible.

Thank you,

Stuart Lewin