Acid Rain: Transnational Perspectives

Abstract

Although published in 1983, the central issue raised in this article remains -- today -- as much a vexatious conundrum as then: namely, the extent to which modern industrialized societies can and will make intelligent responses to the scientific information base which shows, with alarming clarity, the limits or tolerance of the earth and its climate to man-made pollution.

This Article compares the geo-political responses of the United Nations and The Trans-boundary Air Pollution Convention, U.S. Congressional initiatives to promote and develop control strategies in the states designated as acid deposition import regions, and examines especially the leadership role of the German Federal Republic in containing issues of transnational air pollution.

Recognizing that the goal of reducing the trans-boundary flow of sulfur pollution cannot be obtained without establishing cost-effective optimum ceilings for total atmospheric loadings, together with enforcement mechanisms for imposing sanctions when violations occur to the ceilings, the conclusion reached is that more direct domestic and substantive international efforts must be undertaken and incentivized in order to achieve a workable policy for air pollution containment and management.