The Clean Air Act is working. The air is getting cleaner. It will continue to get cleaner as long as EPA doesn't mess up the Clean Air Act.

Even before the standards were signed, they had an effect: they forced businesses to reassess all their decisions on investing in new or expanded or modernized plants. That's why the U.S. Conference of Mayors and so many labor unions -- including the Electrical Workers, the Bakery Workers, the Mine Workers, and the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department -- have opposed these new standards.

EPA admits that there is a "stigma" attached to the clean air designations. They acknowledge that what they are doing will lead to burdensome requirements and restrictions on growth. So they're proposing an improvised and extra-legal implementation scheme.

From an environmental standpoint, what EPA is doing is unnecessary. From an economic standpoint, it is unwise.

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