Acid rain - Global Environmental Issues - page 95

Table 4.1 Commitment of selected nations to the
reduction of sulphur dioxide emissions

to environmental problems, and that is certainly
the case with acid rain.

THE ECONOMICS AND POLITICS OF
ACID RAIN

Government participation in pollution
abatement is not a new phenomenon, but, in
recent years, particularly following the Clean
Air legislation of the 1960s and 1970s, the role
of government has intensified, and pollution
problems have become increasingly a focus for
political intervention. Thus, when acid rain
emerged as a major environmental problem, it
was inevitable that any solution would involve
considerable governmental and political
activity. Given the magnitude of the problem it
also became clear that it could be solved only at
considerable cost, and economic and political
factors are now inexorably linked in any
consideration of acid rain reduction. Additional
complexity is provided by the international
nature of the problem.
The costs of acid rain reduction will vary
depending upon such factors as the type of
abatement equipment required, the reduction of
emission levels considered desirable, and the
amount of direct rehabilitation of the
environment considered necessary (see Figure
4.13). For example, one report prepared by the
Office of Technology Assessment of the US
Congress (Anon. 1984) estimated that a 35 per
cent reduction in SO 2 levels in the eastern United
States by 1995, would cost between $3 and $6
billion. In a series of five bills presented to the
U.S. Congress in 1986 and 1987 costs ranged
from $2.5 to $22.6 billion (Ellis et al. 1990). A
50 per cent reduction in Canada has been
estimated to cost $300 million (Israelson 1987).
In Britain, a 60 per cent reduction of SO 2 from
the 1980 levels had an estimated price-tag of
between £1-2 billion (c. $2-4 billion) (Park 1991;
Ridley 1993) while a 90 per cent reduction was
priced at £5 billion (c. $10 billion) (Pearce 1992e).
Such costs are not insignificant, and in all
likelihood would be imposed, directly or
indirectly, on the consumer.

Source: Various sources including Park (1991)

Increased costs of this type have to be set
against the costs of continuing environmental
damage if no abatement is attempted, but the
latter often involve less tangible elements, which
are difficult to evaluate. The death of a lake
from increased acidity, for example, may
involve a measurable economic loss through the
decline of the sports or commercial fishery
(Forster 1985), but there are other items, such as
the aesthetic value of the lake, which cannot
always be assessed in real monetary terms.
Thus, the traditional cost/benefit analysis
approach is not always feasible when dealing
with the environmental impact and abatement
of acid rain.
The first major international initiative to deal
with acid rain took place in 1979, when the UN
Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE)
drafted a Convention on the Long Range
Transportation of Air Pollutants. The
Convention was aimed at encouraging a
coordinated effort to reduce SO 2 emissions in
Europe, but the thirty-five signatories also
included Canada and the United States (Park