Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
effect of pollution on human health, before serious attempts are made to alter en-
vironmental impacts, in this case to reduce pollution levels. Although such laws
are usually made by national governments rather than local municipalities, they
are often monitored locally, while the need for local development permits means
that local governments are often able to influence the decision to allow industrial
developments to take place, at least if they are independent of state influence or con-
trol, which is not the case in totalitarian regimes. Despite opposition from business
groups concerned at the extra costs of complying with environmental regulations,
they are likely to become tougher through time, so long as concern about environ-
mental damage remains a priority among politicians. For example, the province of
Ontario has plans to phase out all its coal-powered electricity stations by the end
of 2014. However, in many parts of the world the absence of regulations, the lim-
ited effective monitoring of these plants, or an ability to punish offenders, means
that toxic waste and emissions continue to pollute the environment. Yet there are
signs of change, although progress is still slow. For example, recognition of major
health problems in the past, due to the extensive use of lead, paints, asbestos and
some plastic compounds, led to bans on their use through legislation, although older
buildings may still contain such materials. At an international level the discovery
that various halogenated hydrocarbons, such as those used in refrigerators, was de-
stroying the ozone layer that filtered out ultraviolet light in particular and was lead-
ing to increases in skin cancer rates, led to international action to ban these products
by the Montreal Protocol, which took effect in 1987. Now adopted by most of the
countries in the world it has been lauded as one of the most successful of all inter-
national agreements, a success based on clear scientific evidence of the damage that
is linked to a specific cause. Yet in other cases progress has floundered, as described
earlier in the case of the Kyoto in 1997. So with a few regional exceptions it is left
to individual countries or cities to implement policies.
5.7.2
Industrial Initiatives to Reduce Emissions
There seems little doubt that substantial reductions in pollution levels from industri-
al plants can be made from existing technologies, let alone future ones. As always,
many large polluters are reluctant to invest in pollution-reducing initiatives on their
own, because of the extra costs involved, which is particularly the case when aging
plants need heavy upgrades. Increasingly more rigorous government regulations
restricting high levels of emissions is leading to new technological initiatives. One
of the most innovative examples in recent years, reflective of greater concern for
the negative externalities of industrial plants, has been the changes that have taken
place in the Inco smelting plant outside the town of Sudbury in Northern Ontario.
A sign of the problems of the past can be seen by the 380 m smoke stack erected at
the plant in 1972, designed to carry smoke away from the town more quickly and
at higher altitudes. Dominating the skyline, it annually emitted 2 million kilotonnes
(kt) of SO2 in addition to large amounts of other gases, continuing the industrial
