Trump revives problem that past Republican president solved

Despite his frequent bluster about fixing the problems ailing the U.S., a new report from The New Republic broke down how President Donald Trump appears to be reviving an issue that was addressed decades ago by a past Republican president.

The piece, published Friday, noted that images of "black rain" falling over Iran in the wake of the U.S. and Israel bombing oil depots have reawakened the long-forgotten specter of "acid rain," though the phenomenon now plaguing the Middle Eastern nation is likely to be far more caustic than that. While the impact over the skies of Iran is unlikely to reach the U.S., The New Republic reported that there is renewed concern among experts that Trump's domestic policies might see the return of acid rain, specifically citing ecologist Gene Likens, who air pollution discoveries in the 1960s greatly contributed to science's understanding of the issue.

"Last year, Likens told The Guardian that Trump’s current assault on clear air and clean water regulations could pitch the U.S. back into a new era of acid rain," the piece explained. "In the 2025 Guardian interview, he called acid rain a 'major environmental success story' and warned that if Trump relaxed controls on emissions, 'we are going to destroy that success story.'"

That success story can largely be attributed to another Republican president, the late George H.W. Bush. After the acid rain issue was largely ignored during the Reagan administration, Bush made addressing it a key component of his campaign platform to woo voters tired after two terms of GOP governance.

"[When] Reagan’s vice president, George H.W. Bush, ran for president in 1988, he needed a swing issue to appeal to voters who were tired of right-wing Reaganism," The New Republic explained. "One that would be authentic to him as an older-style Republican who enjoyed the outdoors. So he promised to address acid rain."

It continued: "Amazingly enough, he kept that promise, fighting congresspeople in his own party to do so, ultimately enacting the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990. Those reforms set up a 'cap and trade' system for acid rain. The system worked far better than expected, achieving far more reduction in acid rain at lower cost than anticipated, by dramatically reducing power plant pollution. Acid rain is an underrated triumph of regulation. It’s part of how we know we can solve the climate crisis and many other problems associated with fossil fuel pollution."

Now, Trump's many environmental regulation rollbacks run the risk of returning the U.S. to an era of corrosive rainfall. The New Republic specifically cited the Trump EPA's "weakened restrictions on sulphur dioxide emissions from gas-burning power plants," which went forward last month. Sulphur dioxide is known as a leading contributor to acid rain, something the EPA's own website still acknowledges. Trump has also touted the importance of coal mines, another contributing factor, in an effort to court certain rural voters.