Historical data confirm that air and water quality in 1970 were significantly worse than in the early twentieth century; 1950s smog and burning rivers remain bleak milestones.

But most scary trends like that, or population, have started turning around long before doomer intellectuals show up to worry about them. Same with education, literacy rates, or banning child labor.

Progress continued after 1970. By 2014, 85 percent of US rivers were fishable. Even more striking, sulfur dioxide emissions plummeted from thirty million tons annually in the 1960s to just two million today, alongside historic declines in carbon monoxide and particulates.

To what should we attribute these shifts? Traditional environmentalists credit federal mandates in the Clean Air (1970) and Clean Water (1972) Acts. Some point to China’s drastic “one-child policy.” But these explanations are incomplete; they overlook progress made prior to 1970 and ignore market forces more powerful than government mandates can summon.

maaaarketsmaaaarkets

Market-driven technological advances also reduced pollution within US sectors traditionally labeled “dirty,” like energy. The fracking revolution is a literal ground-breaking example. By enabling US power plants to swap coal for cleaner natural gas, this shift has improved air quality enough to generate billions in health benefits and save thousands of lives since 2005.

...and nobody did that for green concerns. That was just a neat, lil secondary benefit.

I suspect this innovation flourished in America, rather than abroad, because of our unique system of private property rights to underground resources; since landowners—rather than distant bureaucrats—collect the royalties, they had a financial incentive to embrace the technology.

Economic growth is what mattersEconomic growth is what matters

Rich(er) people care (more) about their environment; the lefties don't want to hear that #1476710

Perhaps most significantly, economic growth has boosted household demand for a cleaner world. Free markets underpinned a tripling of US real per capita income since 1970. This prosperity allows households to shift spending toward quality-of-life amenities like clean watersheds once basic needs like food and energy are met. [...] the annual budgets of environmental organization have ballooned over time—the Nature Conservancy’s budget, for example, grew from negligible amounts in 1970 to over $1.8 billion today.

Although carbon dioxide is an invisible and odorless gas, it is usually emitted alongside particulates that harm local health. Citizens in India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan—who suffer from the world’s worst air pollution—have strong local incentives to reduce carbon simply to improve the air they breathe. Markets encourage this by raising incomes and, subsequently, the global demand for clean air.

"carbon mitigation policies are likely to succeed only when they leverage market forces that incentivize innovation.""carbon mitigation policies are likely to succeed only when they leverage market forces that incentivize innovation."