Period 4 Group 2

Written as a senator imploring the passage of a bill which will continue to reduce emissions.

Having grown up farming the fields, I know too well the importance of nature. We now find ourselves facing a great dilemma, a dilemma which is occurring and has occurred for the past 50 years, acid rain. At this point, many of you might argue, erroneously, that acid rain is currently on decline, drastic measures have already been taken, the consequences are negligible, etc. But I urge you to pass this new bill, for once you have seen a forest or a lake devastated by the effects of acid rain, your outlook on the problem will, trust me, change.

I will now take you back on a historical journey. After World War II, our nation became involved in a great industrial growth. Consequently, with this boon in industry also came an increase in emissions like never before. The government realized this problem, and in 1970, the Clean Air Act was passed to help curb the effects of this growing concern. Unfortunately, the original Act did little to help, and in 1990, we were forced to amend the original, which resulted in a much greater decrease in emissions. Even though the 1990 amends were effective, they were not enough. The preponderance of streams and forests which have been affected by acid rain will never return to their pre-industrial states, but with the passage of this new bill, we can prevent other lakes and ecosystems from suffering the same fate. What is this fate, you may ask. I am no expert on chemistry, but I will attempt to elucidate on my point.

Acid rain is mainly caused by anhydrides, such as sulfur dioxide. When a factory is burning coal for energy, these anyhydride pollutants are released to the atmosphere. What goes up must come down, and these pollutants are released when it rains, hence acid rain. Now, when these anhydrides are sitting in the lake or soaking into the soil, they decrease the pH of their medium. The environment then reacts by combining calcium salts with these anhydrides in order to reestablish neutral pH. The calcium salts are consumed in the process, and the ecosystem will then lack a critical component of survival. In some places, there are not enough calcium salts to neutralize the incoming acid, and as a result, these regions have become increasingly acidic over the years.

To see a once beautiful and pristine forest turned to such a desolate wasteland by acid rain is such a painful sight. People have tried to fertilize the soils with the lost ions, but it is not enough. It is time to take a stand. Let our era be defined as the one which helped save our world, not as one which helped bring it to its destruction. Let my children and grandchildren live to see the incredible sights of the rainforests. Once, we, as a nation pass this new bill, I am confident that other nations will follow in our footsteps. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, so now my fellow senators, let us take that first step.