Investigating US Policy of Acid Rain
Investigating U.S. Policy of Acid RainAcid rain can harm our health, cause hazy skies and damage our environment and our property. According to the Office of Air Quality Planning and Standards, acid air pollution can be linked to breathing and lung problems in children, asthmatics and even healthy people. It can eat away stone statues and buildings. Acid rain causes lakes and streams to become so acidic that plant and animal life is damaged. It also damages trees in the mountains of Vermont and other states. Red spruce trees at high altitudes are especially affected by acid rain. Acid rain is caused mainly by the pollutants from big coal burning power plants in the Midwest. The coal burned contains large amounts of sulfur and this sulfur becomes sulfur dioxide when the coal is burned. The bigger plants also release nitrogen oxides. These are acid chemicals and are related to two strong acids, sulfuric acid and nitric acid. The pollutants rise into the Midwest air and are carried by winds to the East coast and Canada. When the acid chemicals are blown into areas of wet weather, the acids become part of the rain, snow or fog. In dry areas, the acids may fall to Earth as gases or dusts. According to the
The states must involve the public, through hearings and opportunities to comment, in the development of each state implementation plan. "Lawmaker touts own emissions plan. Phase II went into effect last year further reducing the sulfur dioxide releases from power plants and hitting smaller polluters. In addition, the 1990 Clean Air Act sets more realistic deadlines for the EPA, states, local governments and businesses to reduce air pollution than in previous versions of the law. The Clean Air Act of 1970 was last amended on November 15, 1990, signed into law as P. Focusing on acid rain, the law known as Title IV, set up a nationwide market based system designed to lower sulfur dioxide McGrath 3pollution levels known as the acid rain reduction program which establishes a national cap on utility SO 2 emissions of 8. There are large penalties for plants that release more pollutants than their allowances cover (www. ) or encouraging energy conservation by customers so that less power needs to be produced (www.
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