After over 20 years of federal air and water pollution regulations and bil-
lions of dollars being spent in the United States in the pursuit of cleaner air
and water, certain conclusions are apparent. Clean air and water and a
healthy economy are not mutually exclusive goals: It is possible to have
cleaner air and water and still maintain a viable economic system. Although
the goals of the 1970 and 1977 Clean Air Act amendments, of achieving
major reductions in certain air pollutants, and of the 1972 Federal Water
Pollution Control Act amendments, of achieving "water quality which pro-
vides for the protection and propagation of fish and shellfish, and provides
for recreation in and on the water," wherever attainable by 1983, and of
eliminating all discharge of pollutants into the nation's navigable waters by
1985, have not been reached, progress has been made toward their achieve-
ment. ¹ Despite the closing of a few plants, allegedly because of the potential
costs of installing environmental controls, no great catastrophe has befallen
the American economy in attempting to clean up its environment. Instead
the experience has shown that a healthy economy can coexist with a cleaner
environment.

What the experience has also shown is that without the cooperation of
business, government and environmentalists, achievements in cleaning up
the air and water will be, at best, sporadic. Air pollution is still a major
problem in many of the large urban areas of the United States. Acid rain and
smog have not been eliminated. People in the United States still die of dis-
ease caused or aggravated by air pollution. Moreover, the thinning of the
ozone layer is getting worse, despite the stated desire of most countries to
alleviate the problem by producing less carbon dioxide.

After 20 years of a major U.S. thrust to reduce pollution, the questions
become, what has been accomplished and at what cost? In this book, the air

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