The major player with respect to acid rain prevention, not surprisingly, is the federal government. Because fossil fuel combustion is the aggravating circumstance in nearly all acid rain, efforts to reduce smokestack and tailpipe emissions on a national basis have been and remain a high priority for the Environmental Protection Agency. EPA’s most visible current goal is passage of so-called “clear skies” legislation, designed to produce a substantial reduction in sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxides. EPA submitted a set of proposals to the U. S. Congress , and re-introduced similar measures in February of this year, with final action still pending. EPA says its proposals would cut power plant emissions of SO2 and NOx by 70 percent by the year 2020, eliminating 35 million more tons of these pollutants than the current Clean Air Act would allow during the same time frame.
Organizations are leading preservation efforts:
One of the leading players in materials preservation is the National Park Service, which supports the National Center for Preservation Technology and Training (NCPTT) in Natchitoches LA. The National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington DC is a private organization which also devotes considerable resources to preservation research. NCPTT, created by an act of Congress, is an interdisciplinary program whose stated mission is “to advance the art, craft and science of historic preservation in the fields of archeology, historic architecture, historic landscapes, objects and materials conservation, and interpretation.” Because such a large number of culturally significant sites are privately held, NCPTT actively shares its research, education and information management resources with private practitioners. Having started up operations less than a decade ago , the Center provides evidence of the government’s growing concern about the long-term effects of acid rain and other pollutants on vulnerable structures.
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