A long-time supporter of e-waste management concerns, Congressman Mike Thompson , who represents Calistoga, the Napa Valley and other areas Northern California counties,,  has introduced legislation calling on Congress to responsibly recycle outdated electronic equipment e-waste.

More than 2.3 million tons of e-waste scrapped in the United States ends up in landfills or incinerators annually – many in poor underdeveloped nations. These products can release toxic chemicals and harm our environment.

The bill, the National Computer Recycling Act, is a bipartisan bill coauthored by Reps. Gene Green (D-TX), Mary Bono Mack (R-CA) and Brian Bilbray (R-CA).

 

“Each year, we scrap 400 million units of electronics in the US,” said Thompson in a prepared statement. “Each piece of e-waste can be incredibly harmful to the environment. CRT monitors and TVs contain between four to eight pounds of lead. As they break down in a landfill, they leach toxic chemicals into groundwater. Flat screen monitors and TV’s pose different dangers: they use mercury to light their screens.  As little as one gram of mercury can contaminate a 20-acre lake and make the fish unsafe to eat. Congress should lead by example and dispose of e-waste responsibly.”

 

Under the bill, Congress would be faced with crafting a plan to deal with its own e-waste, only using recyclers certified to the new e-Stewards standard – the highest in the industry.

Currently, only 11% of e-waste in the United States is recycled, and much it is dumped in developing countries where it is recycled under dangerous conditions. In Guiyu, China, 71% of children are living with lead poisoning, as many U.S. electronic products are processed for recycling.

Recycling these products domestically, in a responsible, environmentally friendly way can create good jobs here in the United States, Thompson said.

 

In May, Thompson, in conjunction with Green the Capitol, organized an e-waste recycling event in Washington, D.C. for members and congressional staff to recycle their personal e-waste. The event collected over 400 pieces of e-waste, saving 17,246 gallons of water and 1,429 tons of air from being polluted. Additionally, the event collected enough e-waste to keep 41 tons of CO2 from being emitted.

Looking out for Seniors

In other news from Washington, Thompson voted to preserve seniors’ access to their doctors by fixing the way Medicare pays physicians.

The Medicare Physician Payment Reform Act, H.R. 3961, will permanently reform the Medicare payment system, repealing a 21% cut in payments to doctors scheduled to take place in January and replacing it with a stable system that protects preserves the relationship between seniors and their with their doctors and promotes  care.

“We’ve all heard from our constituents how important their relationship is with their doctor,” Thompson said. “We have a system that works -- over 45 million people across the country depend on Medicare for that doctor-patient relationship,” said Congressman Thompson.  “Yet every year this doctor patient relationship is threatened by excessive cuts to Medicare reimbursement rates.  Every year we wait until the last minute to address it in Congress.  Meanwhile, patients worry that they will lose access to their doctors.  And doctors worry about how they will be able to continue to serve their patients.

“This bill will permanently fix the problem- so that we don’t have to put patients and their doctors through this yearly ritual, and Medicare recipients will have continuous access to their doctors.”

The bill has been endorsed by many groups including the American Medical Association, AARP, the Military Officers Association of America, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians, the American College of Surgeons, the Center for Medicare Advocacy, the Medicare Rights Center, and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare.

The bill now moves to the Senate for consideration.

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