ABSTRACT
The acid rain debate has been a dominant issue in the environmental policy arena since 1981. The acid rain issue has caused political tensions between the United States and Canada, divided the coal industry, pitted various regions of the nation against each other, and has caused divisions within both political parties. Acid rain has become one of the major priorities on the nation's environmental policy agenda largely as a result of Congressional efforts to re-authorize the Clean Air Act. In 1982, and again in 1984, the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, chaired by Republican Senator Robert Stafford of Vermont, reported amendments to the Clean Air Act, including an acid rain program. The chapter examines the technical foundations of acid rain policy issues by summarizing the scientific status of research into those technical issues which bear on the control policy question. Opponents of an acid rain control program are demanding that scientific consensus on the causes and.
