Gene Likens, who first identified acidic rainwater in 1960s, said the Trump administration’s ‘rollbacks are alarming’The US could be plunged back into an era of toxic acid rain, an environmental problem thought to have been solved decades ago, due to the Donald Trump administration’s rollback of pollution protections, the scientist who discovered the existence of acid rain in North America has warned.A blitzkrieg launched by Trump’s Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on clean air and water regulations could revert the US to a time when cities were routinely shrouded in smog and even help usher back acid rain, according to Gene Likens, whose experiments helped identify acidic rainwater in the 1960s. Continue reading...
Scientist Gene Likens, who discovered acid rain, warns that the Trump administration's rollback of pollution protections could cause a return to the era of acid rain in the US. Likens' research showed pollution from power plants caused acid rain, which was mitigated by the 1990 Clean Air Act. Funding for Likens' ongoing monitoring project has been cut. Weakening environmental regulations could undo progress, devastating fragile ecosystems.
