Just the Facts

Between 1970 and 2019, aggregate emissions of common air pollutants dropped 77 percent, while the U.S. gross domestic product grew 285 percent.6  Total private sector jobs increased by 223 percent during the same period. Mainstream academic economic research contradicts broad claims that environmental regulations are bad for employment.  Although in the short term new environmental regulations can have some positive and negative impacts on employment in different sectors, studies indicate that those impacts are limited and that the overall effect of environmental regulations on reported job shift events are extremely minor compared to other factors, such as overall economic growth, business cycles, and changes in technology.

More than forty years of experience with the Clean Air Act has shown that America can build its economy and create jobs while cutting pollution to protect the health of our citizens and our workforce. Between 1970 and 2019, aggregate emissions of common air pollutants dropped 77 percent, while the U.S. gross domestic product grew 285 percent. Total private sector jobs increased by 223 percent during the same period.