Investigating US Policy of Acid Rain

             Investigating U.S. Policy of Acid Rain
             Acid 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 Environmental Protection Agency, sulfur dioxide pollution has also been found in towns where paper and wood pulp are processed and in areas close to some power plants (www.epa.gov).
             The Clean Air Act is the main force behind the control of these emissions in the United States. The Act was originally passed in 1963, but important amendments were
             added in both 1970 and 1990. This 1970 law remains the basis for air pollution control policy. It has four major components. First, it states the National Ambient Air Quality Standards. These standards were put into place by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to protect human health and the environment. Second, the EPA was to establish New Source Performance with...

More Essays:

APA     MLA     Chicago
Investigating US Policy of Acid Rain . (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 07:18, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/69003.html