s produced by nature and not by humankind (Taubes, 1993, pp. 1580-1583). Blatherings a la Limbaugh and LaRouche, unfortunately, are neither understandable nor justifiable.
What is evident is that a serious problem exists for society with respect to the use of chlorine and chlorine byproducts. What is also evident is that a sudden cessation of the use of chlorine would both inconvenience society more than a little and cost many hundreds of individuals their jobs (Wheal, 1992, p. 28). This research examines the proposal to phase-out chlorine.
The Development of Environmental Protection and Pollution Policy
Environmental policy, in the context of this study, concerns both health and ecological aspects. Environmental health policy concerns pollution that either directly affects the health of humans, or affects human health through the effects of environmental pollution on the food chain. Environmental pollution policy affects those actions that lead or have the potential to lead to ecological degradation. With respect to a concern for the environment, it is probably fair to state that most people think that environmental awareness is a relatively recent phenomenon, dating at most back to the first Earth Day in 1970 (DiSilvestro, 1990, p. 5). Among Americans, it is also probably fair to state that most of them think that a concern for the environment is an American phenomenon (Vig and Kraft, 1990, pp. 9-11). While it is true that environmental protection actions have become more numerous and more effective in recent decades, it is not true that concerns for the protection of the environment did not exist far earlier. It is also true that effective environmental clean-up and protection actions were effected in countries such the United Kingdom well before most of the body of environmental law now existing in the United States was enacted. Environmental degradation in the United States, however, does have a long history...