Britain, France, and the European Union - Comparing Environmental Policies in 16 Countries - page 100

Prosecution of violators is weak, and the inspectors tend to believe the
polluter is trying hard, hence should not be sanctioned.
Issues: Although Britain first heard serious complaints about its sulfur
emissions causing acid rain at the Stockholm Earth Summit, it largely
ignored the issue. The Central Electricity Generating Board argued both
that science did not prove the connection, and that installing flue gas
desulfurization equipment would be too expensive. The National Coal
Board seconded these rationales. Furthermore, the sharp increase in the
prices of fuel after the 1973 oil crisis encouraged not acting. Nevertheless,
pressure increased. Research, even by the Electricity Board, showed the
scientific connection, and international pressure grew. In 1979 Britain
signed the Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution, yet
fought against specific limits. The United Kingdom was referred to as
the Dirty Man of Europe. The English Friends of the Earth began a cam-
paign for cleaning up the sulfur and coordinated it with the international
Stop Acid Rain Campaign. Besides the Electricity and Coal Boards, the
Confederation of British Industry fought sulfur limits for existing plants,
although it admitted this might be a possibility for new plants.
The Conservative Party, while in power from 1979 to 1995, was not ideo-
logically friendly to regulation, especially with its programs of deregu-
lation and privatization. Yet Prime Minister Thatcher was personally
interested in the scientific aspects and became concerned that sulfur was a
problem. This combined with growing scientific evidence and more pres-
sure from the Scandinavians and the Germans led to the Electricity Board
reversing its position and moving toward flue gas desulfurization by 1988.
It would cut its emission by 20% during the following 5 years, with more
cuts to follow. These reductions would be binding on the new private
corporations to which the Electricity Board was transferring ownership.
In comparison to the United States and Commonwealth dominions like
Canada and Australia, Great Britain was late to develop national parks.
The chief reason was that virtually no land remained under government
ownership. Moreover, wilderness has not existed for thousands of years.
In 1949 Parliament, under the Labour government, passed the National
Parks and Access to the Countryside Act. It provided for establishment of
10 parks in England and Wales incorporating most of the unspoiled area
remaining, and amounting to nearly 10% of the two countries.
The Lake District is the largest park, and one of the first established.
Its many mountains mark a wide variety of geological origins, registering
500 million years of continental drift, deep oceanic sediment, and glacial