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) upon 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...
Gene Likens, the scientist who discovered acid rain, warns that the Trump administration's rollback of pollution protections could lead to its return in the US. He cites the potential scaling back of rules curbing toxic emissions from power plants, cars, and trucks, as well as funding cuts to long-term monitoring programs. While air quality improvements have reduced acid rain, Likens says weakened regulations risk reversing this progress, potentially devastating ecosystems. The EPA's plan to eliminate or weaken regulations could result in increased deaths and illnesses, though the full impact remains uncertain.
