In 1980, during the early days of the Reagan administration, Adele Hurley co-founded the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain.

Ms. Hurley moved to Washington DC, established an office, and registered as a Foreign Agent on behalf of the Coalition. The Coalition quickly became the largest single-issue citizens' coalition in Canada.

For the next eight years, she worked on a successful campaign aimed at bringing about amendments to the US Clean Air Act, and on regulations to reduce pollutants from large Canadian emitters.

Upon her return to Canada, she established her own company, which continues to specialize in North American air and water issues.

In the early 1990s, she was appointed to the Board of Directors of Ontario Hydro, where she served as the first Chair of the Environment Committee of what was then the largest utility in North America.

In 1995, she was appointed by the Prime Minister's Office to serve as Canadian Co-Chair of the International Joint Commission, which oversees Canada/US Boundary water issues according to the Boundary Waters Treaty of 1909.

She has served as a member of the Canadian Federal Government's International Trade Advisory Committee - ask Force on Environment and Trade Policy.

She is frequently consulted by North American media on a range of environmental subjects, and has won numerous awards for her work including the Conservation Council of Ontario's Lieutenant Governor's Conservation Award.

In 2001, Adele Hurley became a Senior Fellow at the Munk Centre for International Studies at the University of Toronto, where she directs the Program on Water Issues.