by Mary H. Cooper

About the author: Mary H. Cooper is a staff writer for the CQ Researcher,a weekly report on various issues confronting lawmakers and the public.

First the good news: “We’ve really made tremendous progress in the United States since the birth of the environmental movement 29 years ago,” says environmentalist Paul Portney, president of Resources for the Future. “The air is dramatically cleaner, big strides have been made in reversing water pollution and there is much more careful treatment of hazardous waste and toxic substances.”

More or Less Environmental Regulation"

Now the bad news: According to many scientists and environmental advocates, the successes of the past few decades represent just the first, easy steps in the battle to restore planet Earth to health. The next phase of environmental action, they...