WNDI 2008 1

Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Adv.............................................................................................................................................................1
Acid Rain Adv................................................................................................................................1
Acid Rain Advantage- Global.....................................................................................................................................3
Acid Rain Advantage- Global.......................................................................................................3
Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss...........................................................................................................................5
Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss..............................................................................................5
Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss Cont..................................................................................................................6
Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss Cont....................................................................................6
Acid Rain Advantage- Deforestation..........................................................................................................................7
Acid Rain Advantage- Deforestation............................................................................................7
Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss......................................................................................................................8
Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss........................................................................................8
Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss Cont.............................................................................................................9
Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss Cont...............................................................................9
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Air Quality Fine Now....................................................................................................10
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Air Quality Fine Now.....................................................................10
Acid Rain Advantage- Acid Rain Increasing............................................................................................................11
Acid Rain Advantage- Acid Rain Increasing.............................................................................11
Acid Rain Advantage- Programs Cut........................................................................................................................12
Acid Rain Advantage- Programs Cut........................................................................................12
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Regulations Solve..........................................................................................................13
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Regulations Solve...........................................................................13
A/T Acid Regulations Solve Cont.............................................................................................................................14
A/T Acid Regulations Solve Cont...............................................................................................14
A/T Regulations Solve..............................................................................................................................................15
A/T Regulations Solve..................................................................................................................15
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Clean Water Act.............................................................................................................16
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Clean Water Act.............................................................................16
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Reduction Programs Solve............................................................................................17
Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Reduction Programs Solve............................................................17
Acid Rain Advantage- Solvency...............................................................................................................................18
Acid Rain Advantage- Solvency..................................................................................................18
Acid Rain Advantage- Regulations Solve Growth...................................................................................................19
Acid Rain Advantage- Regulations Solve Growth....................................................................19
WNDI 2008 2
Acid Rain Adv

A/T Acid Rain Advantage- No Impact- Clean Air Now...........................................................................................20

A/T Acid Rain Advantage- No Impact- Clean Air Now............................................................20
No Impact- Regulations Solve..................................................................................................................................21
No Impact- Regulations Solve.....................................................................................................21
No Impact- Regulations Solve Cont.........................................................................................................................22
No Impact- Regulations Solve Cont...........................................................................................22
No Impact- Funded Programs...................................................................................................................................23
No Impact- Funded Programs....................................................................................................23
No Impact- Air Quality Improving...........................................................................................................................24
No Impact- Air Quality Improving.............................................................................................24
No Impact- Clean Water Act.....................................................................................................................................25
No Impact- Clean Water Act.......................................................................................................25
No Impact- Reduction Programs...............................................................................................................................26
No Impact- Reduction Programs................................................................................................26
No Impact- Reduction Programs Cont......................................................................................................................27
No Impact- Reduction Programs Cont......................................................................................27
No Impact- Alternate Causalities..............................................................................................................................28
No Impact- Alternate Causalities...............................................................................................28
Link- Acid Rain Measures Not Popular....................................................................................................................29
Link- Acid Rain Measures Not Popular.....................................................................................29
States CP Solvency....................................................................................................................................................30
States CP Solvency.......................................................................................................................30
No Risk of Spillover.................................................................................................................................................31
No Risk of Spillover.....................................................................................................................31
No Impact- Acid Rain is Natural...............................................................................................................................32
No Impact- Acid Rain is Natural................................................................................................32
WNDI 2008 3
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Global

Acid Rain Goes Global

G.O.P. Obasi,Secretary General of the World Metereological Association, U.N. Chronicle,

Spring 1999, "Can Global Health Weather Global Climate", Questia

The air around us is full of particles and gases such as pollen, fungal spores and toxic emissions,
which have implications for health. In addition, "acid rain" and dry toxic deposits, which
contaminate farmlands, forests, water sources and fish stocks, can adversely affect huge areas,
depending on meteorological conditions. Thus, the health of populations in distant areas can be
affected by pollutants transported by atmospheric circulations from a small number of factories
in urban areas.
WNDI 2008 4
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Deaths

Acid Rain Causes Premature Death Through Lung Disorders

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, June 8th 2007, "Effects of Acid Rain- Human Health",
http://www.epa.gov/acidrain/effects/health.html

Acid rain looks, feels, and tastes just like clean rain. The harm to people from acid rain is not
direct. Walking in acid rain, or even swimming in an acid lake, is no more dangerous than
walking or swimming in clean water. However, the pollutants that cause acid rain—sulfur
dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)—do damage human health. These gases interact in the
atmosphere to form fine sulfate and nitrate particles that can be transported long distances by
winds and inhaled deep into people's lungs. Fine particles can also penetrate indoors. Many
scientific studies have identified a relationship between elevated levels of fine particles and
increased illness and premature death from heart and lung disorders, such as asthma and
bronchitis.
WNDI 2008 5
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss

Acid Rain Causes Species Loss

Timothy W. Lohner, Michelle Morrone, Sound Science, Junk Policy: Environmental Health
Science and the Decision-Making Process, 2002, pg. 45, Questia

Sulfur Dioxide, Nitrogen Oxides and Ozone. Acid deposition (acid rain) is a term frequently
associated with emissions of sulfur and nitrogen oxides. The acids are formed in tje atmosphere
from the sulfur and nitrogen gases emitted during combustion processes. The major
environmental effect of acid rain appears to be increased acidity and the subsequent release of
inorganic aluminum in surface waters, which can be toxis to aquatic organisms. Surface water
acidification can result in decreased species richness, decreased reproductdive succes, loss of fish
species, and visual accumulations of filamentous green algae. In areas of North America where
levels of ambient acid deposition and gaseous air pollution are high, certain species of forest
trees have experienced growth declines, foliage loss, or mortality, and some crop species have
experienced reduced yield. Wet and dry deposition can also affect plants by modifying soil
chemistry and affecting funcitons associated with the root system.

Acid Rain Causes Species Loss

Magdolina Cantoria, PHD National Academy of Science and Technology Deptarment of

Science and Technology, March 18th 2007, Manila Bulletin, "Biodiversity Loss and Public
Health", Lexis

Toxic substances in the environment such as air pollutants (e.g., acid rain, nitrogen dioxide, and
ground-level ozone); long-lived chlorinated hydrocarbons (e.g., DDT and polychlorinated
biphenyls), heavymetals (e.g., lead, mercury, cadmium, copper, arsenic, and molybdenum), and
other compounds that alter the immune, endocrine, or reproductive systems, may also threaten
species and reduce biodiversity. Enormous quantities of such substances and chemicals are
released into the environment - into lakes, rivers, and streams, into the air, and into landfills.
There are several mechanisms by which toxic substances may be harmful to the organisms
exposed to them and there is almost acomplete absence of toxicity information available for the
thousandsof chemicals in current use.
WNDI 2008 6
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Species Loss Cont.

Acid Rain Causes Species Loss-Pennsylvania Proves

Conrad G. Schneider, Advocacy Director of Clean Air Task Force Forum for Applied Research
and Public Policy, Vol. 16, 2001, "Every Breath You Take:Significant Reductions in Power Plan
Emissions Will be Necessary Before we Can Clean up America's Air", Questia

In some places, chronic and episodic acidification together have completely eradicated fish
species. For example, some acid-sensitive fish populations have disappeared, and others have
been reduced in Pennsylvania streams where they formerly occurred in large numbers.
Acidification, together with high levels of aluminum leaching, is blamed for the reduction in fish
diversity in many Pennsylvania streams over the past third of a century. (
WNDI 2008 7
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Deforestation

Acid Rain Causes Species Loss and Deforestation

Brad Kuster, Columnist, The Union Leader, January 10th 2005, "At 100th Birthday of U.S.
Forest Service, No Talk of Acid Rain", Lexis

Decades of scientific research have now made an unquestionable connection between acid rain
and long-term damage to forests and waters. There is strong evidence of long-term impacts from
acid rain on the White Mountains, including damage to important species such as sugar maple.
Nearly 70 percent of the streams in the White Mountain National Forest are badly polluted as a
result of acid rain. And forest soils and streams will be damaged by acid rain until power plant
emissions decrease substantially. The scientific research describes the clear connections between
power plant emissions, acid rain, and damage to economically valuable species such as red
spruce, sugar maple, white pine and ash. This research shows that acid rain damages soils and
inhibits tree growth. Acidification also compromises the immune systems of trees, causing a risk
that exposure to even routine stressors such as periods of extreme low temperature will lead to
more serious declines in forest health.
WNDI 2008 8
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss

Acid Rain Causes Health Problems and Damages Ecosystems

Conrad G. Schneider, Advocacy Director of Clean Air Task Force Forum for Applied Research
and Public Policy, Vol. 16, 2001, "Every Breath You Take:Significant Reductions in Power Plan
Emissions Will be Necessary Before we Can Clean up America's Air", Questia

Power plant air emissions cut a broad swath of damage in terms of human health as well as the
global environment. Unhealthy levels of smog trigger millions of asthma attacks each summer;
fine particles shave years off people's lives and damage lungs; acid rain damages forests, lakes,
bays, and crops; mercury contaminates fish and wildlife; shrouds of haze cloak our national
parks; extraction of fuel despoils the environment; and improper disposal of solid and liquid
wastes from power plant operations contaminates groundwater. These are just some of the major
problems associated with the nation's fossil electric generating fleet. If we hope to reverse this
trend, we must achieve major reductions of the major power plant pollutants: sulfur dioxide,
nitrogen oxides, mercury, carbon dioxide, and other air toxins.

Ecosystems Cannot Recover From Acid Rain

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, August 6th 2002, "What is Acid Rain and What Causes
it?", http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml, online

Acid deposition penetrates deeply into the fabric of an ecosystem, changing the chemistry of the soil as well
as the chemistry of the streams and narrowing, sometimes to nothing, the space where certain plants and
animals can survive. Because there are so many changes, it takes many years for ecosystems to recover from
acid deposition, even after emissions are reduced and the rain becomes normal again. For example, while the
visibility might improve within days, and small or episodic chemical changes in streams improve within
months, chronically acidified lakes, streams, forests, and soils can take years to decades or even centuries (in
the case of soils) to heal.
WNDI 2008 9
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Ecosystem Loss Cont.

Regulations do not Protect Ecosystems

States News Service, March 25th 2008, "Cardin, Clinton, Schumer Urge Support for Efforts to
Combat Acid Rain", Lexis

EPA released a status report on its acid rain program last October, the Acid Rain 2004 Progress
Report, that concluded the program has led to a 34 percent reduction in SO2 emissions from the
power sector compared to 1990 levels. But the paper also cited EPA's report to Congress on acid
rain, issued earlier that year, which said the program may be inadequate to protect some
ecosystems. Recent scientific studies "support that conclusion, showing that environmental
improvements have been slow in many sensitive areas, and signs of recovery still are not evident
in some areas. The [report to Congress] concluded that additional SO2 and NOx emission
reductions from power plants and other sources are necessary to decrease deposition and further
reduce the number of acidic lakes and streams in many regions of the United States," the report
says.
WNDI 2008 10
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Air Quality Fine Now

Air Pollution is Not Decreasing- Ozone Depletion is Increasing From Fossil Fuel Use

Timothy W. Lohner, Michelle Morrone, Sound Science, Junk Policy: Environmental Health
Science and the Decision-Making Process, 2002, pg. 45, Questia

As noted earlier, air pollution levels in the United States have been declining steadily since 1980,
with one exception- ozone. Although ozone levels have improved overall, there are some areas in
the country that have actually seen an increase in ozone. The EPA notes in its 1999 Air Quality
and Emissions Trens Report, that ozone is responsible for poor air quality in cities 98 percent of
the time. High levels of ozone can cause measurable changes in lung function, respiratory
symptoms, and airway inflammation in healthy people engaged in normal outdoor exercise and
recreational activities.
WNDI 2008 11
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Acid Rain Increasing

Acid Rain is Increasing Globally

William Reville, Columnist, The Irish Times, March 6th 2008, "What Made the Acid Rain Myth
Finally Evaporate?", Lexis

Emissions of sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are now under control in Europe and America
generally, but emissions from shipping still cause acid rain in coastal areas. Some experts warn
that increasing acidity of the oceans could destroy all coral by 2065. Also, acid rain persists in
China, which now burns half of all coal burned in the world annually

Acid Rain is as Serious Problem as it Was 20 Years Ago

Bill Taylor, President and CEO of the Atlantic Salmon Federation, The Halifax Daily News,
October 12th 2005, "We're Winning the Acid Rain Battle", Lexis

Back then, ASF was part of the influential Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain. It supported a lobby effort in
Washington to promote the United States Clean Air Bill to cut acid rain-causing emissions. It was expected
that sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide pollution would be cut in half by the turn of the century. When the
U.S. Clean Air Act of 1990 was passed, we were convinced we had the problem licked, and acid rain solved.
Now we know that, although acid rain has largely disappeared from the public radar, the problem is almost
as serious as it was when we were putting up signs almost 20 years ago. Most of the noise in North America
of late has been about global warming and mercury contamination - problems that, like acid rain, are caused
by the burning of fossil fuels. All but a few dedicated volunteers have stopped trying to save salmon, the
victims of acid rain.
WNDI 2008 12
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Programs Cut

Acid Rain Programs are Being Cut in the Current Budget

States News Service, March 25th 2008, "Cardin, Clinton, Schumer Urge Support for Efforts to
Combat Acid Rain", Lexis

Despite the progress we have made, acid rain is still a major threat to health of the Adirondacks
and many other places in New York and across the country, said Senator Clinton. We need to do
more, and it' outrageous that the Bush Administration has again proposed cuts in funding for
acid rain programs. I urge my colleagues to reject these cuts so we can continue to make
progress in reducing the harmful effects of acid rain. For some reason this Administration seems
insistent on cutting funding for an absolutely essential environmental cause, said Schumer. We
fought tooth-and-nail to save these programs last year, and are committed to continuing the fight
until the Administration wakes up and realizes the serious threat acid rain poses. With the
livelihood of the Catskills and Adirondacks increasingly jeopardized by this pervasive problem,
now is not the time to shortchange such critical programs
WNDI 2008 13
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Regulations Solve

Regulations Have Not Solved- Acid Rain is a Major Ecological Problem

States News Service, October 18th 2007, "As Acid Rain Continues to Threaten Adirondacks-
Destroying Forests and Lakes- Schumer Fights to Restore Slashed Funding for Vital Acid-Rain
Monitoring Program", Lexis

Twenty years ago, acid rain was devastating the Eastern half of the United States. Congress, the
EPA, state and local governments acknowledged the damage that unregulated emissions of
certain acid-rain-producing pollutants were having on the environment. They took decisive
action to curtail those emissions, and today, acid rain is not as bad as it once was. However, in
certain parts of the country, acid rain continues to be a major ecological problem. The Northeast
is the region most affected by this problem, with the Adirondacks in Upstate New York being
brutally hit. CASTNET, and its subsidiary program NADP have been integral to the EPA'
response to acid rain.
WNDI 2008 14
Acid Rain Adv

A/T Acid Regulations Solve Cont.

Acid Rain is a Reoccurring Environmental Disaster and Regulations Fail

Don Munton, American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 27 1997, "Acid Rain and
Transboundary Air Quality in Canadian-American Relations", Questia

Contrary to prevailing public perceptions that the acid rain problem has been solved, it seems
likely that it is poised for something of a comeback. A growing number of scientists are
beginning to suggest that the control measures taken so far, under existing legislation, will not be
sufficient to prevent acidification damage to many areas of eastern Canada and parts of the
United States. A scientific report released by Canada's Atmospheric Environment Service in
September 1997 suggested acidic deposition remains a problem. Projected levels of acidification
continue to endanger sensitive ecosystems. A second report from a multistakeholder group
argued for more extensive cuts in SO emissions. (37) In the United States new measures to
reduce tropospheric ozone levels may well be accompanied by further SO reductions aimed at
reducing ambient levels of fine particulates (rather than at reducing acidic deposition per se). The
only question seems to be how the return of acid rain will unfold. Will it go full cycle and
become a major political issue once more? Or will it continue to be handled largely and, from
both the diplomats' and politicians' perspectives, more safely, through bureaucratic channels and
through the time-worn mechanisms of quiet diplomacy?
WNDI 2008 15
Acid Rain Adv

A/T Regulations Solve

EPA Regulations Don't Solve- At Least 75% Emissions Cut is Needed

Conrad G. Schneider, Advocacy Director of Clean Air Task Force Forum for Applied Research
and Public Policy, Vol. 16, 2001, "Every Breath You Take: Significant Reductions in Power Plan
Emissions Will be Necessary Before we Can Clean up America's Air", Questia

Scientists believe that cuts called for in the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments will not be adequate
to protect surface water and forest soils of the northeastern United States from acidification. (6)
Recent work by scientists with the Hubbard Brook Research Foundation found that an additional
80-percent reduction in sulfur from levels that went into effect in 2000 under the acid rain
program of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 would be needed for biological recovery to
begin by mid-century in the northeastern United States. (7) Meanwhile, model simulations in the
Shenandoah mountains illustrate that a greater than 70-percent reduction in sulfate deposition
from 1991 levels would be needed to increase viability of brook trout. A 70-percent reduction
would simply prevent further increase in Virginia stream acidification. (8) In Great Smoky
Mountains National Park, two separate ecosystem models have concluded that sulfate reductions
of 70 percent are necessary to prevent an increase in acidification impacts. (9) Canadians in the
Acidifying Emissions Task Group have called for a 75-percent reduction in U.S. sulfur emissions
that went into effect in 2000 under the acid rain program of the Clean Air Act Amendments. (10)
Clearly, nothing short of an overall 75-percent reduction will solve the problems associated with
acid rain. Tighter, targeted cuts may be necessary for sources directly affecting sensitive areas.
And the longer we wait for the reductions to begin, the longer we will await recovery of these
systems.
WNDI 2008 16
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act Has Not Solved Acid Rain

Conrad G. Schneider, Advocacy Director of Clean Air Task Force Forum for Applied Research
and Public Policy, Vol. 16, 2001, "Every Breath You Take:Significant Reductions in Power Plan
Emissions Will be Necessary Before we Can Clean up America's Air", Questia

Science has proven that the problem of acid rain has not been solved and that the acid rain
provisions of the 1990 Clean Air Act Amendments will not be sufficient to fix the problem. More
than 150 years of sulfur deposition have taken a serious toll on ecosystems. Although sulfur
emissions have declined somewhat in recent years, they remain high when compared with
historic background levels.
WNDI 2008 17
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- A/T Reduction Programs Solve

Anti- Acid Rain Programs Have Been Cut

State News Service, November 6th 2007, "Sen. Schumer: President's Budget Cuts Continue to
Eat Away at Vital Anti- Acid Rain Programs for Upstate NY- 2 More Programs Are Put on the
Chopping Block", Lexis

Two weeks after blasting the Bush Administration for threatening to cut a key acid rain
monitoring program used across Upstate New York, today U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer
revealed that the Administration is planning to further gut anti-acid rain efforts by completely
slashing funding to two additional programs. The President is planning to cut the Environmental
Protection Agency's (EPA) Temporally Integrated Monitoring of Ecosystems program (TIME)
and the Long-Term Monitoring (LTM) program which are critical federal programs that work to
combat acid rain across New York State and the country by examining the acidity of lakes and
streams. Today, Schumer, a longtime crusader against acid rain - which has already decimated
scores of pristine parks, forests and lakes across the state - called on the Senate Committee in
charge of these programs' budgets to immediately restore their funding levels. "The Bush
Administration's budget cuts continue to eat away at anti-acid rain programs that are vital to
protecting New York State's forests, lakes and rivers," said Senator Schumer. "With acid rain
already decimating so many of New York State's precious parks, lakes and rivers, it is
inconceivable that we would now slash funding to federal programs that are vital to combating
acid rain. It is absolutely critical that scientists and environmentalists fighting this scourge have
the tools they need."
WNDI 2008 18
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Solvency

Alternative Energy Solves Acid Rain

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, August 6th 2002, "What is Acid Rain and What Causes
it?", http://www.policyalmanac.org/environment/archive/acid_rain.shtml, online

As emissions from the largest known sources of acid deposition - power plants and automobiles-
are reduced, EPA scientists and their colleagues must assess the reductions to make sure they are
achieving the results Congress anticipated. If these assessments show that acid deposition is still
harming the environment, Congress may begin to consider additional ways to reduce emissions
that cause acid deposition. They may consider additional emissions reductions from sources that
have already been controlled, or methods to reduce emissions from other sources. They may also
invest in energy efficiency and alternative energy. The cutting edge of protecting the
environment from acid deposition will continue to develop and implement cost-effective
mechanisms to cut emissions and reduce their impact on the environment.
WNDI 2008 19
Acid Rain Adv

Acid Rain Advantage- Regulations Solve Growth

Acid Rain Regulations Create Economic Growth
Daniel Greenbaum, President of the Health Effects Institute, February 27th 2007, Committee on
House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, "Open
Space, Biodiversity, Air and Water Quality Issues", Lexis

Progress also on Sulfur Dioxide and Acid Rain - We have also made substantial progress in
reducing Sulfur Dioxide emissions from major power plants - in the process reducing Acid Rain.
As shown in Figure 3, as a result of the Emissions Trading program contained in the 1990
Amendments to the Clean Air Act, the 1990s saw a substantial reduction in the levels of sulfate
deposited throughout the Midwest and Northeast United States. Because of the trading
provisions, the cost of this reduction was a fraction of what it would have been under traditional
plant-by-plant regulations. Achieving Economic Growth and Pollution Reduction at the Same
Time - In implementing the Clean Air Act, and other environmental statutes, there is often the
concern raised that it is not possible to improve environmental quality without harming the
economy. Figure 4 illustrates that for clean air this has not been the case. Since 1970 we have
seen an over 175% increase in Gross National Product, an over 150% increase in vehicle miles
traveled, and a 45% increase in energy consumption. Yet during that same period the total
emissions of the two major pollutants that form Ozone smog - nitrogen oxides and volatile
organic compounds - have gone down by 25% and over 50% respectively.
WNDI 2008 20
Acid Rain Adv

A/T Acid Rain Advantage- No Impact- Clean Air Now

No Impact- Our Air is as Clean as Ever

Senator Jamem Inhofe, Federal News Service, May 7th 2008, "Hearing of the Subcommittee on
Public Sector Solutions to Global Warming, Oversight, and Children's Health Protection of the
Senate Commitee on the Environment and Public Works", Lexis

Our air is cleaner than it ever has been before - you know, this is something that people don't
understand that since the clean air amendments passed, it is. It's a real success story. Our air is
actually cleaner and nobody talks about that. The levels of the six criteria of pollutants are
continuing to decline, air toxics monitoring is expanding and reductions of benzene, acid rain,
and haze are contributing to significant improvements in air quality and environmental health.
WNDI 2008 21
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Regulations Solve

Acid Rain Regulations Have Solved Your Impacts

Thomas Duncombe, Joy Schnackenback, Kristin Henderson, March 22nd 2008, American
Criminal Law Review, "Environmental Crimes; Twenty-Third Annual Survey of White Collar
Crimes", Lexis

Congress has found that at least one causal factor in the formulation of "acid rain" (162) is the
release of sulfur dioxide ("SO2") into the air. (163) The CAA sets sulfur SO2 allowances for
emitting sources in order to reduce acid deposition and rain. (164) The regulations work by
setting allowances for specific manufacturing facilities. (165) The program gradually reduces
SO2 emissions through planned reductions divided into two phases. (166) Phase I requirements
took effect on January 1, 1995, (167) affecting 110 mostly coal-burning electric utility plants
located in twenty-one states. Phase II requirements took effect on January 1, 2000, and tightened
the annual emissions limits (168) imposed on the original 110 plants and set regulations on
smaller, existing plants and new utility units.
WNDI 2008 22
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Regulations Solve Cont.

No Impact- the EPA is Reducing Emissions Now

J. Hope Babowice, Columnist, Chicago Daily Herald, February 23rd 2003, "Acid Rain Affects
Our Health as Well as Our Environment", Lexis

What is the acid, and where does it come from? The acid is made up of pollutants like sulfate,
nitrate and nitric acid. They are released into the air when we burn fossil fuels like coal, natural
gas and oil. Almost all electricity is made by burning those fuels. The exhaust from your car's
tailpipe also contributes to acid deposition. How are we solving the problem? For more than 10
years, the EPA has forced power plants and manufacturers to clean up our air by reducing the
amount of sulfur and nitrogen oxide they release when they burn fuels. The EPA has a goal of 70
percent further reduction in emissions. Car and truck manufacturers also are part of the cleanup
act - the EPA has called for significant reductions in emissions from vehicle exhaust. Since the
1970s, scientists have been working on reducing emissions. Researchers today understand the
composition of acids found in wet and dry deposition and are studying how those acids affect
trees, fish and the environments in which they live.
WNDI 2008 23
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Funded Programs

Acid Rain Programs Are Key to Regulations' Success

States News Service, January 29th 2008, "After Saving CastNet Program Schumer Works to
Save Two More Crucial Acid Rain Monitoring Programs That Could See Their 2008 Funding
Slashed", Lexis

Twenty years ago, acid rain was devastating the Eastern half of the United States. Congress, the EPA, state and
local governments acknowledged the damage that unregulated emissions of certain acid-rain-producing pollutants
were having on the environment. They took decisive action to curtail those emissions and today, acid rain is not as
bad as it once was. However, in certain parts of the country acid rain continues to be a major ecological problem.
The Northeast is the region most affected by this problem, with the Adirondacks in Upstate New York being brutally
hit. TIME, LTM, CASTNET, and its subsidiary program NADP have all been integral to the EPA' response to acid
rain. Acid rain has been attributed to sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxide (NOx), chemicals that can be
transported in the wind, causing environmental and health problems hundreds of miles away. Fine particles can pose
serious health risks, especially for people with heart or lung disease (including asthma) and older adults and
children. Ground-level ozone can irritate the respiratory system, aggravate asthma, reduce lung capacity and
increase people' susceptibility to respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis.
WNDI 2008 24
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Air Quality Improving

AIr Quality is Only Going to Improve

The Environmental Literacy Council, Environmental Educaiton Advocacy Group, 2002, "Acid
Precipitation", http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/2.html, Online

The United States, Canada, and Europe have pollutant controls and emissions trading programs
in place that have significantly reduced the amount of sulfur dioxide stemming from industrial
sources. Nitrogen oxides stem primarily from automobile exhaust, and remain an issue as older
catalytic converters inadequately address their emission. Air quality should continue to improve
as these older vehicles are replaced.
WNDI 2008 25
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Clean Water Act

The Clean Water Act HAs Solved Acid Rain's Negative Impacts- It Is the Most Successful
Program in U.S. History

EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, Environmental Protection Agency Documents and

Publications, October 16th 2006, "Acid Rain Shows Continued Success and High Compliance,
EPA Reports", Lexis

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released its Acid Rain Program 2005 Progress
Report today, marking the 11th year of one of the most widely regarded and successful
environmental programs in U.S. history. Since 1995, the program has significantly reduced acid
deposition in the United States by decreasing sulfur dioxide (SO2) and nitrogen oxides (NOx)
emissions. Due to rigorous emissions monitoring and allowance tracking, overall compliance
with the Acid Rain Program has been consistently high - nearly 100 percent. There were no
units out of compliance in 2005. In 2005, SO2 emissions from electric power generation were
more than 5.5 million tons below 1990 levels. NOx emissions were down by about 3 million tons
below 1990 levels. The program's emission cuts have reduced acid deposition and improved
water quality in U.S. lakes and streams.
WNDI 2008 26
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Reduction Programs

Acid Rain Reduction Programs Are a Great Success

Brian McLean, Director of the Office of Atmospheric Programs Office of Air and Radiation
EPA, Committee on House Energy, and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Air Quality,
March 29th 2007, "Global Climate Change", Lexis

Overall, the results of the Acid Rain Program have been dramatic - and unprecedented.
Compliance has been greater than 99 percent every year. Now, with over a decade of
implementation experience, we know that the greatest SO2 emission reductions were achieved in
the highest SO2-emitting states; acid deposition dramatically decreased over large areas of the
eastern United States in the areas where reductions were most critically needed; trading did not
cause geographic shifting of emissions or increases in localized pollution; and the human health
and environmental benefits were delivered early and broadly. Compliance flexibility and
allowance trading (and banking) have reduced compliance costs by more than two-thirds from
initial EPA and industry estimates. Studies revealed that the flexibility of the program allowed
companies to take advantage of numerous cost-saving opportunities as multiple methods for
reducing SO2 emissions competed with one another.1 For example, competition among railroads
shipping low- sulfur coal led to significant reductions in transport costs, a major component of
coal cost; flexibility in the operation of flue gas desulfurization equipment ("scrubbers") coupled
with design and equipment advances significantly reduced the cost of scrubbing; and medium-
sulfur coal became marketable in the absence of an arbitrary sulfur content for "compliance coal"
that existed under the traditional regulatory program. Also, the ability of sources to bank
allowances earned from extra control actions allowed them to reduce future expenditures as
requirements grew more stringent. Finally, the allowance market, in addition to providing a
compliance option for sources, provided a benchmark price against which companies could
better evaluate compliance alternatives. By embracing markets, allowing flexibility, and
requiring accountability, the Acid Rain Program has been a great success with only minimal
impacts on electricity prices.
WNDI 2008 27
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Reduction Programs Cont.

Acid Rain is Under Control and Emissions Have Been Cut 50%
The Boston Herald, January 19th 2004, "Letters to the Editor", Lexis

.First, acid rain is not getting worse. Since Congress amended the Clean Air Act in 1990, EPA has enacted an
indisputably successful program to limit emissions of sulfur dioxide (SO2), the main pollutant associated with acid
rain. The Acid Rain Program requires that by 2010, SO2 emissions from power generation be reduced by 50 percent
from 1980 levels through a nationwide, market-based cap and trade plan. Already the program has achieved deeper
SO2 reductions more quickly and at less cost than anybody first predicted, with lakes and streams in the northern
U.S. experiencing much less acid deposition and ecosystems beginning to recover
WNDI 2008 28
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Alternate Causalities

Alternative Causalities Explain Your Impacts- Acid Rain Does Not Effect Health

William Reville, Columnist, The Irish Times, March 6th 2008, "What Made the Acid Rain Myth
Finally Evaporate?", Lexis

The situation turned out to be much more complex than had been predicted. The acidity of a lake is
determined as much by the acidity of the local soil and vegetation as it is by acid rain. Many lakes in north-
eastern America, dead in the 1980s, had plenty of fish in 1900. It was surmised by environmentalists that
20th-century sulphur dioxide emissions had choked these lakes to death with acid rain. But the NAPAP
showed many of these lakes were acidic and fishless even before European settlement in America. Fish
survived better in these lakes around 1900 because of extensive slash and burn logging in the area. The soil
became more alkaline as the acid vegetation was removed, reducing the acid flowing into the lakes and
making the water hospitable to fish. Logging stopped in 1915, acid soils and vegetation returned and the
lakes became acidic again. The study also found that in many cases forests were suffering debilitation due to
insects or drought and not acid rain.The NAPAP reported in 1990. The findings were explosive: first, acid
rain had not injured forests or crops in US or Canada; second, acid rain had no observable effect on human
health; third, only a small number of lakes had been acidified by acid rain and these could be rehabilitated by
adding lime to the water. In summary, acid rain was a nuisance, not a catastrophe.
WNDI 2008 29
Acid Rain Adv

Link- Acid Rain Measures Not Popular

Acid Rain Controls Cost Political Capital and are Not Popular

Don Munton, American Review of Canadian Studies, Vol. 27 1997, "Acid Rain and
Transboundary Air Quality in Canadian-American Relations", Questia

Proposals to strengthen the Clean Air Act and, in particular, proposals to adopt acid rain controls
were met with extraordinary resistance from a potent and well-organized coalition of miners'
unions and companies that produced high-sulphur coal, investor-owned utility companies that
burned coal, and state and national politicians from coal-producing and coal-burning areas. Its
center was the American midwest, especially the states of West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
Illinois. Highly effective opposition to strengthening the Act also came from other industrial
interests, including the auto manufacturers, whose champion was Congressman John Dingell of
Michigan, the powerful chairman of the key House committee that had to approve all air-
pollution legislation. Faced with such a formidable alliance, even an administration sympathetic
to reducing acid rain would have had considerable trouble trying to get congressional approval of
its plans. The Reagan administration was, with one temporary lapse, less than sympathetic
throughout its two terms in office.
WNDI 2008 30
Acid Rain Adv

States CP Solvency
State Regulations Can Surpass Federal Standards

Conrad G. Schneider, Advocacy Director of Clean Air Task Force, Forum for Applied Research
and Public Policy, Vol. 16, 2001, "Every Breath You Take:Significant Reductions in Power Plan
Emissions Will be Necessary Before we Can Clean up America's Air", Questia

For one thing, the science underlying reduction targets for acid rain, fine particles, haze, and mercury has become
increasingly more compelling. For another, many states have exceeded requirements of the federal Clean Air Act.
Recently, for example, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and Texas adopted regulations that will chop air pollution from
grandfathered power plants by up to 75 percent. In Illinois, new legislation requires promulgation of similar
regulations by 2002. Other states are working on similar measures. Though these state actions demonstrate
leadership, their effectiveness will be diluted by the transport of air pollution across state lines. However, solutions
to these problems are feasible and available.
WNDI 2008 31
Acid Rain Adv

No Risk of Spillover
No Risk of Public Acid Rain Crisis

Melvin A. Benarde, PHD, The Journal for the Royal Society for the Promotion of Health, Vol. 17, 1987,
"Health Effects of Acid Rain: Are There Any?", http://rsh.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/107/4/139, online

An exhaustive search of the pertinent literature indicates that deleterious human health effects, if there
are any, remain to be established. As a consequence of pollution abatement efforts the next 15 to 20
years should witness a reduction in acid levels. Accordingly, a worsening of current levels of chemical
pollutants is not anticipated. Hence, a significant threat to public health via acid rain currently or in the the
foreseeable future, should not be expected.
WNDI 2008 32
Acid Rain Adv

No Impact- Acid Rain is Natural

Rain is Naturally Acidic

The Environmental Literacy Council, Environmental Educaiton Advocacy Group, 2002, "Acid
Precipitation", http://www.enviroliteracy.org/article.php/2.html, Online

Rain is naturally acidic as a result of the reaction of water vapor, carbon dioxide and nitrogen in
the atmosphere. The acidity can increase through the introduction of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen
oxides into the atmosphere. This can occur naturally from vegetation decay, volcanic eruptions,
or even sea spray. The primary human contributions stem from fossil fuel combustion,
particularly from electric power plants and automobile exhaust.