GEORGE A. GONZALEZ - fieldi

THREEThe Politics of Air Pollutionduring the Late Nineteenth andEarly Twentieth CenturiesThe Failure of TechnologySAMUEL HAYS (1987; 2000) argues that the current U.S. air pollution abatementregulatory regime, along with other environmental regulatory regimes,are the result of the expansion and rising affluence of the U.S. middle classduring the post–World War II period. With its increasing economic security,substantial segments of this middle class, according to Hays, moved awayfrom their almost exclusive concern with economic issues, and came to prioritizepolitically the environment for its aesthetic and salutary qualities (alsosee Inglehart 1977).David Stradling (1999), however, demonstrates that the clean air movementcan be traced back to the late nineteenth century. He, nevertheless,also argues that the political impetus underlying this movement was primarilya middle class concerned with the adverse effect that air pollution had onthe aesthetics of the urban milieu and on the health of urban residents. Giventhis class make-up of the clean air movement, Stradling argues that its primaryfocus and result is the effort to control air pollution through the developmentand application of technology. In contrast to the position taken byHays and Stradling, I hold that the primary political energy underlying thehistoric development of the U.S. clean air regulatory regime is provided byeconomic interests that monetarily benefit from local economic and populationgrowth, and, subsequently, increasing land values as well as an expandingconsumer base.35