Cost of Clean Air and Water

CHAPTER THREE:
The Cost of Clean Air and Water

EXCERPT FROM PAGE 141

“The Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act have been among the most important environmental and public health laws enacted in American history. But that outcome was not guaranteed. At key moments, such as at the start of the Reagan administration, during the Contract with America, and during George W. Bush’s administration, it seemed the strength and scope of the laws would be rolled back amid the Republican reversal championed by economic interests and the public interest right.”

Primary Sources

1970

Source: Ernst Halberstadt (EPA DOCUMERICA Project, NARA)

President Nixon Remarks on the Clean Air Act | PDF
Nearly a month after President Nixon created the EPA, he signed the Clean Air Act amendments of 1970 into law, placing additional regulations on air quality, polluting industries, and vehicle emissions. This legislation helped improve public health throughout the following decades.

“...A GOAL OF CLEAN AIR, CLEAN WATER, AND OPEN SPACES FOR THE FUTURE GENERATIONS OF AMERICA” - NIXON

1972

Source: NARA

President Nixon Veto Statement on the Clean Water Act | PDF | The New York Times coverage of the veto
In 1970, 70 percent of industrial waste received no treatment before being dumped into waterways. In response, Congress proposed legislation referred to as the Clean Water Act to help improve the nation’s water quality. Despite strong bipartisan support, President Nixon claimed the $24 billion price tag was too expensive and would place an undue burden on industries. In the attached document, Nixon announces his decision to veto the bill. Congress acted quickly to overturn the veto.

1981

Source: EPA

Anne Gorsuch’s Testimony at Confirmation Hearing
President Reagan tapped Anne Gorsuch, a young lawyer from Denver, to be his first EPA administrator. Gorsuch, who had little experience in environmental regulations, saw the EPA as an opportunity to further Reagan’s anti-regulatory agenda. Her testimony shed light on her priorities as the future head of the EPA.

1982

Click to download

The Case Against President Reagan’s Environmental Record, published by Friends of the Earth et al.
During his first few years in office, the Reagan administration attempted to make significant changes to the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. In 1982, Friends of the Earth, along with several other environmental groups, published a report documenting Reagan’s efforts to weaken environmental regulations.

“THE OSCEOLA NATIONAL FOREST IN FLORIDA IS A VICTIM OF THE REAGAN’S ADMINISTRATION’S POLICY TO SACRIFICE MULTIPLE USES OF THE PUBLIC FORESTS TO RESOURCE EXTRACTION”
- FRIENDS OF THE EARTH

1986

Source: The Global Energy Context: Fred Krupp talks (World Economic Forum)

Fred Krupp op-ed on the Environmental Movement, published in The Wall Street Journal
As director of the Environmental Defense Fund in 1986, Fred Krupp published an op-ed describing various stages in the environmental movement. With debates around acid rain dominating environmental debate, Krupp pushed for a “third stage” in environmental activism that championed market-oriented incentives to achieve cost-effective environmental protections.

1988

Click to download

Project 88
In light of Krupp’s The Wall Street Journal article, two senators, John Heinz of Pennsylvania and Timothy Wirth of Colorado, created “Project 88” in hopes of finding market-based solutions to environmental challenges. While the project fell on deaf ears in the Reagan administration, President George H. W. Bush was quick to pursue market incentives when he proposed amendments to the Clean Air Act in 1990. Project 88 served as a blueprint for the Bush administration’s environmental agenda.

1990

Source: C-SPAN

President George H.W. Bush signing the Clean Air Act amendments of 1990 [video] | Transcript
After nearly a decade of debate on acid rain, President George H.W. Bush signed the amendments to the Clean Air Act in November 1990. The amendments aimed to address acid rain and other issues, including urban air pollution, toxic air emissions, and stratospheric ozone depletion.

2003

Source: EPA

EPA administrator Christine Todd Whitman on the Clear Skies Act | PDF
When George W. Bush took office, he appointed the governor of New Jersey, Christine Todd Whitman, to head the EPA. Whitman had a strong record on environmental policy as governor and brought that enthusiasm to her new role as EPA administrator. President Bush was eager to overhaul the Clean Air Act and simplify many of its provisions with a new market-based proposal called the Clear Skies Act. In testimony and interviews with Whitman, she defended the administration’s decision to pursue the Clear Skies Act.

“CLEAR SKIES WOULD MAKE GREAT STRIDES TOWARDS SOLVING OUR REMAINING AIR QUALITY PROBLEMS IN A WAY THAT ALSO ADVANCES NATIONAL ENERGY SECURITY AND PROMOTES ECONOMIC GROWTH”
- WHITMAN

2015

Source: Pete Souza (White House)

President Obama EPA Press Release Announcing the Final WOTUS Rule | PDF | Clean Water Rule
To clarify the scope of federal involvement in water protection, the Obama administration revised a rule defining waterways that fell under U.S. jurisdiction. The Clean Water Act of 1972 provided initial guidelines that had become confusing due to conflicting policies and court rulings. In 2015, the EPA and the United States Army Corps of Engineers solidified an administrative rule that became known as the Waters of the United States (WOTUS).

2017

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Speaking to American Farm Bureau about WOTUS Repeal [video]
President Trump signed an executive order to rewrite the Waters of the United States rule in February 2017. In doing so, Trump ignored the scientific analysis underlying the 2015 rule, in favor of industry support. Following the announcement, EPA administrator Scott Pruitt, championed the decision before an advocacy meeting of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Discussion Questions

On the campaign trail, Ronald Reagan promised relief from burdensome environmental regulations, such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act. To what extent did his administration deliver on that promise? What were the lasting consequences of those efforts? How did environmental groups mobilize in opposition?
Why was a “command-and-control” approach to environmental policy important to the success of laws such as the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act? Why did conservatives come to oppose that approach?
How did the Chevron doctrine strengthen the role of federal agencies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency, in implementing regulatory policy?
Why was enacting regulations to curb acid rain more challenging than passing the Clean Air Act of 1970? Why did a market-based “cap and trade” strategy succeed in breaking the political logjam? Did that strategy work as expected?
Why didn’t a cap-and-trade approach to reforming the Clean Air Act succeed under George W. Bush, when that approach had been so important to George H. W. Bush’s environmental legacy?
What role have moderate Republicans had in protecting the Clean Water Act? How has that differed from the Trump administration’s approach to the Clean Water Act?
Why has it been more challenging to regulate point-source versus non-point source water pollution under the Clean Water Act? How have questions about what constitutes “navigable waters” complicated those efforts?
If the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act have improved environmental quality since the 1970’s, why have issues of environmental justice become more acute?

Additional Readings

Clean Air Act

“The SO2 Allowance Trading System and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990: Reflection on Twenty Years of Policy Innovation”
Gabriel Chan, Robert N. Stavins, Robert C. Stowe, and Richard Sweeney | Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA: Harvard Environmental Economics Program, 2012

”Downwind Ozone: Clearing the Air”
Theodore L. Garrett | Natural Resources & Environment, 2004

“Policy Watch: Economics and the Clean Air Act”
Paul R. Portney | Journal of Economic Perspectives, 1990

“What Can We Learn from the Grand Policy Experiment? Lessons from SO2 Allowance Trading”
Robert N. Stavins | Journal of Economic Perspectives, September 1998

Clean Water Act

“When Will Governments Regulate Nonpoint Source Pollution?”
Robert K. Craig and Anna M. Roberts | Boston College Environmental Affairs, 2015

“Consequences of the Clean Water Act and the Demand for Water Quality”
David A. Keiser and Joseph S. Shapiro| Yale University (working paper), January 2017, accessed 1 November 2017

President Clinton’s Clean Water Initiative
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | National Service Center for Environmental Publications, February 1994

Benefits of Environmental Regulations

”A Fresh Look at the Benefits and Costs of the US Acid Rain Program”
Lauraine G. Chestnut and David M. Mills | Journal of Environmental Management, November 2005

”Waterways Restored: Clean Water Act’s Impact on 15 American Rivers, Lakes and Bays”
Jeff Inglis et al. | Environment America Research and Policy Center, October 2014

”Consequences of the Clean Water Act and the Demand for Water Quality”
David A. Keiser and Joseph S. Shapiro| Yale University (working paper), January 2017, accessed 1 November 2017

The Benefits and Costs of the Clean Air Act from 1990 to 2020: Summary Report
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency | April 2011

Environmental Justice

Dumping in Dixie Race, Class, and Environmental Quality
Robert Bullard | New York, NY: Routledge, 2018

“Toxic Wastes and Race at Twenty”
Robert D. Bullard, Paul Mohai, Robin Saha | Natural Resource Defense Council, March 2007

“A Look at Environmental Justice in the United States Today”
Bill Chameides | Huffington Post, 20 January 2014

EDGI Highlights Environmental Justice Implications in Part 2 of the First 100 Days and Counting
EDGI | 18 September 2017

Environmental Inequalities: Class, Race, and Industrial Pollution in Gary, Indiana, 1945-1980
Andrew Hurley | Chapel Hill, NC: The University of North Carolina Press, 1995

Toxic Communities: Environmental Racism, Industrial Pollution, and Residential Mobility
Dorceta Taylor | New York, NY: New York University Press, 2014

Other

“Reforming Environmental Law: The Democratic Case for Market Incentives”
Bruce A. Ackerman and Richard B. Stewart | Columbia Journal of Environmental Law, 1988

“Chevron Matters: How the Chevron Doctrine Redefined the Roles of Congress, Courts and Agencies in Environmental Law”
Donald E. Elliott | Villanova Environmental Law Journal, 2005

“Tall Stacks versus Scrubbers: $3.5-Million Publicity Campaign Fails to Discredit Emission Reduction Technology”
Environmental Law Reporter | Environmental Law Reporter, January 1975

American Environmental Policy: Beyond Gridlock
Christopher M. Klyza and David J. Sousa | Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2013

The Environmental Case: Translating Values Into Policy
Judith Layzer | Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2012

CHAPTER THREE:The Cost of Clean Air and Water