I’ve got a personal attribute that I am better at than I was in the good old days. I’m better at evaluating politicians holistically – at seeing the strengths of foes and the weaknesses of allies.
I bring this up because of the passing last week of the Hon. Brian Mulroney, PC.
To me, thirty or thirty-five years ago, he was just “Lying Brian”; a malignant force making Canada a worse country in every respect.
Ahhh. The exuberance and stupidity of youth.
Mr. Mulroney’s death reminded me of something that is much better than in the good old days. It’s something that he took a leadership role in making better. It’s something that may not have become better without him. At the very least, it would not have become better for many more years or decades.
The Hon. Brian Mulroney, PC helped make Canada’s rain better.
Canada’s rain in the good old days
Four decades ago, rain was destroying Canada. Literally.
The problem was that rain had become acidic, particularly in Eastern Canada.
When this rain fell, it turned lakes acidic. Plant and fish life died. Plant matter was dissolved by the acid. Lakes became crystal clear. The clearer the water, the deader the lake. By the 1970s, Canada had over 15,000 lakes with water that was clear as glass.
When this rain fell, it damaged and eventually killed vegetation on land. Plants could not take the stress of regular acid baths. Crop yields were dropping and forests dying.
When this rain fell, it caused health problems. Human lungs are not designed to handle acidic water vapor in the air.
When this rain fell, stone and concrete dissolved. Bridges and buildings were disintegrating. The writing on gravestones disappeared at the markers dissolved.
I’m not going to get too technical here. The comic-book version of the story is that Sulphur was being spewed into the atmosphere from car exhausts, coal fired power plants, and non-ferrous metal smelters (nickel, copper, lead, and zinc). In 1980, the United States pumped about 24 million tonnes of Sulphur into the air. About two thirds came from power plants. In the same year, Canada generated about 4.6 million tonnes. About half came from smelters in places like Sudbury, Flin Flon, Thompson, Rouyn-Noranda, and Trail.
Isaac Newton observed that gravity means “what goes up must come down”. The Sulphur pollution sometimes came down to earth in the form of dry particles, but most of it came down in the rain. The Sulpheric particles turned into Sulphuric acid. Thus we ended up with acid rain.
Scientists began sounding the alarm about acid rain in the 1960s. Plant and fish life in lakes around Sudbury and Flin Flon were dead or dying as a result of acidic water. In response, the nickel-mining giant INCO opened a “Superstack” in 1972. It was 380 meters tall. At the time it opened, the Superstack was 4th tallest human-created structure in the world. It is still the second highest structure in Canada – behind only the CN Tower in Toronto. In 1973, HBM&S opened a 250-meter superstack in Flin Flon. It is still the highest structure in Western Canada and the 11th highest in all of Canada.
The logic behind the smelter superstacks was dilution. The Sulphur would be launched in the air at greater heights, and so would take longer to fall to the earth. Lakes nearby would get less acid, while lakes further away would get just a little. You know. Safe and acceptable limits and all that.
In retrospect, that was stupid. The superstacks expanded the scope of damage done by acid rain.
By 1980, the problem of acid rain was becoming impossible to ignore. Even the people most determined to be willfully ignorant were having the scales over their eyes washed away in an acidic shower.
Conceptually, the solution was simple. Emit less Sulphur into the atmosphere. Technological solutions existed or could be created. More difficult were the economic and political problems. Some of the technology was expensive, and industries central to our economy would have to pick up the tab. Politicians would have to force them to do so. In addition to the challenges this created in domestic politics, Canada had another problem. Half of the sulphuric acid coming down on Canada came from the United States. A solution had to be trans-national. What’s more, combination of the location of coal fired power plants and the prevailing winds meant that acid rain was not a problem in most of the United States. States in New England were affected, but the problem was not a problem further south and west where the expense of a solution would be born.
And did I mention that the United States had just elected a president who was on record as saying he believed trees polluted more than cars?
The first efforts to reduce Sulphur emissions and convince the United States began during the government led by Trudeau the Elder. For example, when the newly elected President Ronald Reagan visited Canada in 1981, Canada raised acid rain as a major problem. Reagan nodded politely and went home.
Enter Brian Mulroney
When Brian Mulroney was elected Prime Minister in 1984, he was determined to make rain in Canada less acidic. Better.
He described his approach in a 2021 speech. Mulroney said that his government had a three-part plan fight acid rain. It consisted of:
Leading by example. Not only was doing the right thing the right thing to do, it allowed Canada to approach the United States with “clean hands”. Within a few months of taking office, the Mulroney government reached an agreement with the seven eastern provinces (those most affected) to cut their Sulphur emissions by at least 50 percent by 1994. Not only did this lead to a drop in emissions, it allowed Mulroney to ask the Americans to do the same.
Engaging with American decision makers at the highest level. Mulroney was a big believer in the power of personal relationships. We’ll talk more about what that meant in a moment.
Involving industry in the search for solutions. When INCO’s superstack opened in 1972, that one piece of steel and concrete emitted about one quarter of all the Sulphur emissions in Canada. It is now out-of-service. The smelter is no longer producing enough Sulphur to keep a smokestack smoking.
I’m going to focus on the second of these points – Mulroney’s cultivation of friendship with American decision makers to help get better rain in Canada.
One hundred and ninety-three days after Mulroney was sworn in as Prime Minister, he hosted President Reagan in Quebec City. Mulroney exploited the fact that both he and Reagan came from Irish stock as a way to bond with the President. The meeting was dubbed the Shamrock Summit, and featured the two leaders and their spouses singing When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. The Reagan Presidential Library has posted some video from the meeting. Reagan is clearly having fun and enjoying the company of Canada’s Prime Minister. They became such good friends that Mulroney gave eulogies at the funerals of both Ronald and Nancy Reagan.
More importantly for Canada, Mulroney’s charm got Canada better rain.
Mulroney got Reagan to agree to an envoy process to work on a cross-border acid rain treaty. Both leaders appointed heavy hitters. Reagan appointed former Transportation Secretary Drew Lewis while Mulroney appointed former Ontario Premier Bill Davis. The pair recommended that the United States invest $5 billion in developing technology to reduce Sulphur emissions. The recommendation was implemented.
But the big issue was hard targets for emissions combined with the force of government to mandate action to achieve the targets. The Canadian government was for this approach. The American government was opposed.
This changed in 1987. Reagan was visiting Ottawa. His term in office was in its last year. Reagan called in his National Security Advisor, Frank Carlucci to say, “I think we should do something for Brian.” Reagan knew that an acid rain treaty was top-of-mind for his buddy. Carlucci objected, saying that the United States was successfully holding its position against an acid rain agreement. This was a mistake for the Carlucci. He later reported that “It was the only time I saw Ronald Reagan lose his temper. He turned to me and said, ‘you do it.’” Carlucci slunk out and called Mulroney’s Chief of Staff to ask for a summary of Canada’s position on acid rain asap. When asked about the urgency, Carlucci replied, “because it is our position now.”
This happened in Reagan’s last year in office. The process towards a treaty was launched but could not be finished before the end of Reagan’s term. There was a real possibility that momentum would stall with a change in president.
Not to worry, though. Mulroney had covered his friendship bases. He had spent years cultivating a relationship with Reagan’s Vice-President, George H.W. Bush. When Bush became President in January of 1989, he was as committed to “doing something for Brian” as Reagan had been. What’s more, Bush understood the issue. Mulroney had also spent time building friendships with Senators and Governors from New England. He understood that Presidents needed allies in Congress to get treaties approved and legislation passed. New England’s rain was as acidic as Canada’s, so politicians from that part of the United States were potential allies.
To make a long story short, the Canada-United States Air Quality Agreement was signed by Mulroney and Bush on March 31, 1991. Precise commitments for reductions in Sulphur emissions were mandated, along with implementation schedules. The international agreement was accompanied by legislative amendments to the American Clean Air Act.
The results were pretty awesome.
In 1980, the United States emitted about 24 million tonnes of Sulphur. It is now under 2 million tonnes. During the same time period, Canada’s emissions went from 4.6 million tonnes to about 800,000 tonnes. These drops in emissions are impressive, but even more impressive when we take into account that the population of the United States has increased by over 50 percent during this time. Canada’s population is almost 60 percent larger.
Rain has become less acidic. Past damage to gravestones cannot be undone, but lakes are more resilient. As we reduced Sulphur emissions, lakes began to recover. Marine plants returned, followed by fish.
The making of better rain
For much of the 20th century, people made rain worse in Canada and the United States. We spewed huge amounts of Sulphur into the atmosphere and called it disposal. When lakes died near major industrial sites, our first response was to build bigger smokestacks to dilute the local acid levels. This had the effect of spreading the damage further.
In the 1960s, scientists began to document the problem. Environmental activists and journalists converted the science into a public awareness of the problem – and what potential solutions were required. Eventually, this caused some politicians to work towards creating and imposing legislative solutions. Industry than had to implement many of these solutions.
The story of making rain better – or, perhaps more accurately, stopping the practice of making rain worse – is a story of collective action. There is a lot of credit to be shared.
In this post, I’ve focused on the role played by one person – the Hon. Brian Mulroney, PC. I’ve done this for two reasons.
First, he played a huge role. I’m not saying the right things would not have eventually been done without him, but I can say with confidence that at the very least he sped up the process and made sure that solutions were real, effective solutions.
Second, by the time the treaties and agreements were signed – by the time rain began to get better - Mulroney was profoundly unpopular with Canadians for other reasons. I think that, as a result, he did not get the credit he deserved for his work on behalf of rain.
Brian Mulroney helped make rain better than it was in the good old days. And that’s no lie.