TODAY SCIENTISTS, POLITICIANS, and citizens agree that acid rain is a problem that must be solved. However, the solution is much more complicated than the decision to act. Acid rain is created by things that humans use on a daily basis, like electricity and vehicles. Few people are willing to live without electricity and transportation. Still the pollution that is created by daily living must be reduced to lessen the problem of acid rain. The dilemma between a demand for inexpensive electricity and transportation and a need for cleaner air prompted a debate between Canada and the United States that demonstrated the complexity of agreeing on solutions to acid rain.

The Debate Between Canada and the United States

In the early 1980s, the United States was becoming increasingly aware of the environmental problems that were possibly being caused by acid rain, but...