Just how does acid rain form, and what consequences does it pose to our environment? There are numerous theories as to the cause of acid rain. However, the most prevalent i

effectively reduced air pollution in our country, but at what cost? Writer, Michael E. Kraft asks the question that burns in many of our minds. "How clean is clean enough? How safe is safe enough, considering available technology and costs?" Initiatives to help meet proposed air quality standards are extremely costly, and they impose substantial burdens on the state and local government. The level of spending on air pollution control in 1972 was $8 billion. By 1990 that figure has risen to $30 billion (Meiners 5). Many experts doubt that money was spent wisely by the government, and claim that the same amount of reduction in air pollution could have been attained using half of the money spent if the government was more efficient.

s the theory that electric generating plants, heating plants, and other industrial plants have been emitting an excess amount of sulfur oxides, nitrogen oxides, and volatile organic chemicals (VOC's) into the atmosphere. Once these chemicals are in the air, they react with water to form acids and fall back to the earth as precipitation. People who believe acid rain is a natural phenomenon do so because of the fact that carbon dioxide in the air combines with water vapor and produces carbonic acid (Bolch 95).

Obviously the U.S. government has taken a stand against pollution, and has paid the extremely high financial costs. Many people are quick to point the environmental finger at less developed countries and ask why they are not going to such measures to reduce their own pollution. Like many other things, this too comes down to money. There is a drastic inequality among the rich and the poor nations. This has a large impact on the ability of those poorer countries to address environmental concerns. In 1991, the richest 20% of the nations received 85% of the world income, while the poorest 20% received only a mere 1.4% (Sandler 20). In order to effectively solve any global problem, the nations who are most affected by the problem, and would benefit the most from a solution must take on an active role in the resolution of the problem. If these countries take an aggressive and public stand on fighting and reducing their own pollution, other countries will follow their lead (Sandler 148). A large group of nations are cooperating in order to solve a global problem; they form a sort of power, or clout that is effective in pressuring other nations to join the fight. Such cooperation and discussion between nations is crucial in

The fact that the Earth's populat

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Approximate Word count = 1701
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)