Coal

Last week the Adirondack Council issued a statement on acid rain in the Adirondacks, linking increasing pollution from Midwest power plants to a rise in the acidity of clouds here and saying, “It is troubling to see acid rain re-emerge as a threat to the Adirondack Park.”

The researchers who collected that cloud data, while agreeing with the Council on the need to keep acid rain at bay, disagreed that the cloud pH levels have “reversed their previous trends.” They said a drop between 2016 and 2017 was “minor” and “a natural variation.” They also said that the latest data shows the acidity of Adirondack clouds continues to improve.

I think it's a mistake to say that running flue gas desulfurizaiton is free or universally good. Just because a few plants are operating without using the FGD stacks running due to equipment failure, doesn't mean that the acid rain cap and trade program is not working. Sulfur credits are cheap, because it's working so well. Capturing sulfur dioxide is both very energy intensive (more carbon emissions) and uses a lot of space to landfill the often contaminated gypsum.