Origins of the Clean Air Act: A New Interpretation

Abstract

Given the increased national attention to the use of the Clean Air Act to address climate change, an analysis of the origins of the Clean Air Act is instructive for understanding the law in its current form. Contrary to the traditional view, the formation of the Clean Air Act was not the result of the events of the Year of the Environment, but rather, the gradual evolution of a federal regulatory approach to the medium of air between 1955 and 1970. Far from being weak and ineffectual, the federal air pollution laws of 1955, 1963, 1965, and 1967 laid the legal and conceptual framework for the modern Clean Air Act.

Keywords: Earth Day, air, air pollution, pollution, Clean Air Act, origins, climate change, administrative law, environmental law

JEL Classification: K23, K32