Way to Go, New Hampshire

New Hampshire is one of the nation’s more conservative states politically. It still has no state sales or income tax. Some outsiders continue to suspect that Granite State residents do little but sit around country stores and whittle when they are not tapping the maple trees or shoveling snow.

In many ways, however, New Hampshire is a surprisingly sophisticated state politically and a very active one, with a state legislature of more than 400 members. The New Hampshire Legislature recently passed, and Gov. John H. Sununu signed, a bill to cut sulfur-dioxide emissions in New Hampshire by 25% between now and 1990. A second 25% reduction would take effect whenever Congress and the President put a national program into effect.

New Hampshire thus becomes the third state, joining New York and Minnesota, to adopt legislation to battle the phenomenon known as acid rain, which scientists say is caused by the mingling of sulfur dioxide from power-plant and other emissions with moisture and other elements in the atmosphere.

These states know that their actions alone will not have a dramatic effect on what in reality is a national problem. But, after observing at close hand the effects of acid rain on their own lakes and streams, they are challenging the rest of the nation to join in the campaign for national legislation.

A price must be paid, of course. That was made clear when an official of Public Service of New Hampshire, the state’s largest electric utility, told a legislative committee that “the costs that would result from this bill could be very substantial.” Even so, he said that the firm recognizes the threat of acid rain to the New Hampshire environment, and he called the legislation a reasonable approach that “would set a good example for other states and the federal government to note.”

Noted well, New Hampshire, and thanks.