The cause of acid rain is sulfur released from burning hydrocarbons such as gasoline, coal, and to a lesser degree, natural gas. Sulfur dioxide is created in catalytic converters as a result of heat and air-fuel mixtures. As sulfur dioxide travels into the upper atmosphere it combines with sunlight in a low oxygen environment to create a mild sulfuric acid which precipitates to the earth in the form of rain. Entire forests and grasslands in the American and Canadian North East are destroyed for the sake of a few Congressional Lobbyist, who forced Detroit to use catalytic converters on their automobiles. The simpler and cleaner solution to the problem of hydrocarbon emissions was to follow the Japanese Example of placing spark plugs in the exhaust heads of automobile engines. Alas, one well placed Congressional Joker trumps four aces of common sense every time. Interestingly, at the time of the passage of this act, the spot market price of platinum was lower than that of gold.

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