Back in the 1970s and 80s, the Environmental Protection Agency took steps under the bipartisan Clean Air Act to address dangerous lead pollution by phasing in unleaded gas and catalytic converters for automobiles. At the time, some in Washington reacted with fury, claiming such action would cause “entire industries to collapse.”
Today we know how far their predictions were from what actually transpired. We know the auto industry not only survived – it thrived – and that dangerous lead pollution in our air is down by more than 90 percent from 1980 levels. By 1985 the reductions of lead in our environment had estimated health benefits of $17 billion per year. The initial cost of the rule was paid back 10 to 13 times over.
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In the days, weeks and months following President Obama’s remarks on climate change Tuesday, there will be some in Washington who will call the proposals extreme. There will be men and women on Capitol Hill who claim the proposed measures will wreak havoc on our economy, and lobbyists who suggest the actions will lead to mass layoffs and disaster for industry.
They will make these hyperbolic predictions – and they will make them loudly. Throughout EPA’s history, many of the most effective steps the agency has taken have been met with fierce arguments about the economic roadblocks those steps would impose on Americans.
But the truth is the rhetoric simply doesn’t match reality. Instead, time and again, environmental rules and regulations have not only led to healthier communities, but also to economic growth, job creation and technological innovation. In the 43 years since EPA was first created, we’ve seen remarkable improvements in the quality of America’s air, water and land – and our nation’s GDP has grown more than 200 percent.
We saw this chain of events play out when EPA proposed efforts to limit the use of ozone-depleting CFCs. We saw it when EPA took action to reduce acid rain. It’s the same story every time – something we’ve even seen recently around some of EPA’s most promising actions to date.
When the Obama administration proposed historic fuel-economy standards to cut emissions of dangerous pollution and save drivers money at the gas pump, a member of Congress said the standards would “limit choice” for consumers. Today Americans have twice as many hybrid and diesel vehicle choices, a growing set of plug-in electric vehicles, and six times as many vehicle choices with fuel economy of 30 mpg or higher. Another member of Congress expressed concerned about the “negative impact on American jobs.” Today the automobile industry is booming. Just last month, CBS News reported that “the U.S. auto industry is about to go on a hiring spree, as automakers prepare to ramp up production to keep up with increased demand.”
A recent study conducted by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget found that, over the last decade, EPA rules and regulations created more than $14 in benefits and savings for every $1 spent on implementation. That is a significant return on investment – one we don’t hear about enough – and it’s thanks to the extensive input from the industry leaders, labor, environmental and public health groups and other stakeholders that inform the development of each and every safeguard EPA issues.
Also absent from critics’ talking points is the fact that, throughout EPA’s history, rules and regulations and sparked brand new technologies and innovation throughout industry. American engineers are behind much of the best environmental technology in the world. This is good news for our economy: By conservative estimates, in 2010 environmental firms and small businesses in the U.S. generated $312 billion in revenues and supported 1.7 million American jobs.
EPA’s health and environmental protections are not without cost, but they also create jobs through pollution cleanup and prevention efforts and save Americans billions of dollars in avoided health costs. When it comes to the economic impact of environmental and health protections, the rhetoric simply doesn’t hold up to the reality. With the future of our entire planet at stake, it’s past time for those who predict that meaningful action will spell disaster to get themselves a new crystal ball.
David Foster is executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance