The direction of causality presumed in the title is mixed up. The EPA did not materialize in a vacuum. It came about in a context of increased concern about pol

The direction of causality presumed in the title is mixed up. The EPA did not materialize in a vacuum. It came about in a context of increased concern about pollution which had exceeded tolerable levels AND the U.S. had grown to the point where the country as a whole was wealthy enough to care about such things. Because enough people wanted less pollution, the politicians did something. What they did was not necessarily the "best" thing. The title of the post should have been "What America looked like before the enough Americans began caring for the environment, in photos". PS: I grew up in a really polluted city.