Our Legacy of Victory
Wisconsin’s Acid Rain Law
Among the first and strongest in the nation, Wisconsin’s 1986 acid rain control laws established the Badger State as a leader on the issue. Clean Wisconsin collaborated directly with lawmakers to build support for new standards that were eventually signed into law in 1986. The law required major electric utilities to cut sulfur dioxide (SO₂) emissions to 50% of 1980 levels by 1993, capping annual emissions at 250,000 tons. Once enacted, Wisconsin’s lakes, forests and wildlife received a much needed reprieve from acid rain’s damaging effects.
Acid rain started to gain national attention in the 1970s as the body of research expanded to show acid rain was harming significant sections of our environment. Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources testing later showed lakes in the northern part of the state were especially vulnerable to damage from acid rain, as were the state’s fish, forests, crops and even some stone monuments.
In addition to cutting sulfur dioxide emissions by 50% over the following seven years, the acid rain law put new limits on utilities’ sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions and brought statewide sulfur dioxide emissions to a new low.
Why It Matters
Acid rain is known to cause widespread damage to Wisconsin’s forests, lakes, fisheries and public health, and this law was a major step toward reversing those negative impacts. Wisconsin’s leadership on reducing acid rain helped show strong environmental protections could also be economical. In 1990, federal amendments to the Clean Air Act extended similar protections against acid rain to the entire country.
