John J. Fialka

In 1995 the Environmental Protection Agency lowered the acceptable acid-rain emissions rate for airborne pollutants by public utility companies and at the same time awarded the utilities certificates that permitted them to exceed their emissions allowances. Utility companies that met or exceeded their emissions goals were encouraged to sell their pollution credits to companies that were unable to meet the lowered standards. In the following viewpoint, John J. Fialka reports that the program has been so successful in reducing the amount of acid-rain emissions that the program is being considered as a means of reducing carbon dioxide emissions worldwide to stop global warming. Fialka is a staff writer for the Wall Street Journal.

As you read, consider the following questions:

1. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, by how much has the sulfur dioxide emissions dropped...