The Acid Rain Movie

The Acid Rain Movie is an inspiring caper driven by the political twists, innovative science, and high-stakes diplomacy that helped – against all odds – stop the defining environmental nightmare of the ‘80s. Acid rain was a scientific mystery that, once untangled, became a major political and public flashpoint. After a decades-long battle, science won the day, countries came together, and emissions were greatly reduced. So how’d they do it – who stopped the rain?

We rewind to 1963, as Dr. Gene Likens establishes his groundbreaking ecosystem study, the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. His very first rainwater sample is a shocking 100x more acidic than it should be. Suspecting air pollution from coal plants, he charters a plane to sample plumes from smokestacks, confirming these emissions are seeding clouds more acidic than lemon juice. Alarmed, he reaches out to Dr. David Schindler, an ecologist setting up another study at the Experimental Lakes Area (ELA) in Northern Ontario. Suited up in protective gear, Schindler dumps acid into a pristine lake, revealing that even minor increases in acidity cause fish to starve and stop reproducing.

Acid rain takes the media by storm, and Gene and David take their fight to DC. Gene meets President Reagan, recently elected on the slogan of ‘Let’s Make America Great Again.’ Unfortunately, he plans to achieve some greatness through rolling back environmental protection. Meanwhile, forests are becoming tree graveyards, bridges are corroding, and Princeton’s gargoyles are melting. Coal states build smokestacks higher, sending toxic emissions hundreds of miles away. Canada calls it “environmental aggression,” and a frustrated Prime Minister Brian Mulroney bleakly jokes about declaring war. But Canada’s hands aren’t clean either, and Sudbury is home to the Superstack, aka the “biggest emitter in the Milky Way.”

When Adèle Hurley, a young parliamentary staffer in her 20s, learns of this environmental nightmare unfolding around the world, she hatches a plan and moves to DC to lobby directly for change. Using the latest science from Gene and David, she flips Congressional votes so skilfully that few Americans even realise she is, in fact, a Canadian foreign agent. Along with Michael Perley, fellow co-founder of the Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain, she proves all politics is local and galvanizes fishermen, maple syrup producers, health experts and history buffs into action. The Canadian Coalition on Acid Rain (CCAR) would eventually grow to become the largest single-issue coalition in Canada’s history.

As science and activism take off, industry-sponsored denialism takes root and the playbook used against climate scientists today is deployed – and caught out. Despite Big Coal’s tremendous power, the “acid rain wars” end when Bush Sr. introduces the first cap-and-trade system with amendments to the 1990 Clean Air Act and signs an agreement with Mulroney.

The Acid Rain Movie tells one of the greatest environmental success stories of all time. Rain in North America is now 80% less acidic. ELA and Hubbard Brook, two of the longest-running ecosystem studies in the world, continue to lead science into the future, and we feature a new generation of scientists who dutifully maintain the long-term records established by Gene and David. They study how lakes and forests recovered from acid rain, while applying their mentors’ methods to today’s major challenge: the climate crisis.