Quote:
Originally Posted by Robbie
The air is a thousand times cleaner. The environment is much, much cleaner. Cars are more efficient, etc.
I remember back in the 1970's watching the evening news on CBS and they would show "Smog Alerts" in major cities every day on the national news.
There was constant fear and talk of "Acid Rain".
It was pretty bad in the 1970's. The industrial revolution had been going on for a few decades and had ramped up after WW2 and factories were just belching shit into the air and water.
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acid rain was real and thru gov regs with dealt with it.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acid_rain I quote:
Meanwhile, in 1989, the U.S. Congress passed a series of amendments to the Clean Air Act. Title IV of these amendments established the Acid Rain Program, a cap and trade system designed to control emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides. Title IV called for a total reduction of about 10 million tons of SO2 emissions from power plants. It was implemented in two phases. Phase I began in 1995, and limited sulfur dioxide emissions from 110 of the largest power plants to a combined total of 8.7 million tons of sulfur dioxide. One power plant in New England (Merrimack) was in Phase I. Four other plants (Newington, Mount Tom, Brayton Point, and Salem Harbor) were added under other provisions of the program. Phase II began in 2000, and affects most of the power plants in the country.
During the 1990s, research continued. On March 10, 2005, EPA issued the Clean Air Interstate Rule (CAIR). This rule provides states with a solution to the problem of power plant pollution that drifts from one state to another. CAIR will permanently cap emissions of SO2 and NOx in the eastern United States. When fully implemented, CAIR will reduce SO2 emissions in 28 eastern states and the District of Columbia by over 70% and NOx emissions by over 60% from 2003 levels.[18]
Overall, the program's cap and trade program has been successful in achieving its goals. Since the 1990s, SO2 emissions have dropped 40%, and according to the Pacific Research Institute, acid rain levels have dropped 65% since 1976.[19][20] Conventional regulation was utilized in the European Union, which saw a decrease of over 70% in SO2 emissions during the same time period.[21]
In 2007, total SO2 emissions were 8.9 million tons, achieving the program's long term goal ahead of the 2010 statutory deadline.[22]
The EPA estimates that by 2010, the overall costs of complying with the program for businesses and consumers will be $1 billion to $2 billion a year, only one fourth of what was originally predicted.[19]