I don't understand how that statement is disingenuous. It's completely true that smog, air quality, etc. were bigger problems before the establishment of the EP

I don't understand how that statement is disingenuous. It's completely true that smog, air quality, etc. were bigger problems before the establishment of the EPA and the passage of the Clean Air Act. There's a reason the EPA was established, and I think it is naive to claim that local stopgap legislation could have addressed the national/international problem, especially since they had failed to do so before the establishment of the EPA. Pollution specifically is an economic issue that involves heavy externalities, so I believe it requires at least some centralized regulation to address. Of course, there's inefficiencies in government bureaucracy, and we should seek to eliminate inefficiencies when we find them. But I don't know if I'm willing to risk the climate where I live to local governments halfway across the country (or world).