Derek Thompson

In 1943, residents of Los Angeles woke up to a smog that was so black, they thought the Japanese had launched a chemical attack against America. In New Hampshire, in the rivers next to textile mills, sometimes the rivers themselves would run green and purple and red, depending on what textile colors were being dumped into the river. You had the Ohio River on fire in the 1960s, 1970s.

In 1943, residents of Los Angeles woke up to a smog that was so black, they thought the Japanese had launched a chemical attack against America. In New Hampshire, in the rivers next to textile mills, sometimes the rivers themselves would run green and purple and red, depending on what textile colors were being dumped into the river. You had the Ohio River on fire in the 1960s, 1970s.

The world of mid- 1900s America was truly sickening, and it made people sick. And so we passed a raft of environmental rules, and some of them achieved exactly what we wanted. The air we breathe and the water we drink is cleaner because of the Clean Air and Water Acts. We did extraordinary things with this era of regulation.

The world of mid- 1900s America was truly sickening, and it made people sick. And so we passed a raft of environmental rules, and some of them achieved exactly what we wanted. The air we breathe and the water we drink is cleaner because of the Clean Air and Water Acts. We did extraordinary things with this era of regulation.

The world of mid- 1900s America was truly sickening, and it made people sick. And so we passed a raft of environmental rules, and some of them achieved exactly what we wanted. The air we breathe and the water we drink is cleaner because of the Clean Air and Water Acts. We did extraordinary things with this era of regulation.

Some of these regulations were about outcomes, that the Clean Air and Water Act regulates specific pollution levels in the air and the water or the emissions coming out of tailpipes. Some of the regulations, though, were about process. NEPA is the National Environmental Protection Act, and it, among many other things...

Some of these regulations were about outcomes, that the Clean Air and Water Act regulates specific pollution levels in the air and the water or the emissions coming out of tailpipes. Some of the regulations, though, were about process. NEPA is the National Environmental Protection Act, and it, among many other things...

Some of these regulations were about outcomes, that the Clean Air and Water Act regulates specific pollution levels in the air and the water or the emissions coming out of tailpipes. Some of the regulations, though, were about process. NEPA is the National Environmental Protection Act, and it, among many other things...

empowered individuals and citizens to sue the government and organizations, businesses to stop construction or fill out environmental reviews to prove that their construction would meet muster, wouldn't degrade the environment too severely. This opened the door to an infinitude of lawsuits to wrap up any effort to build anything in red tape forever. So fast forward to 2021.

empowered individuals and citizens to sue the government and organizations, businesses to stop construction or fill out environmental reviews to prove that their construction would meet muster, wouldn't degrade the environment too severely. This opened the door to an infinitude of lawsuits to wrap up any effort to build anything in red tape forever. So fast forward to 2021.

empowered individuals and citizens to sue the government and organizations, businesses to stop construction or fill out environmental reviews to prove that their construction would meet muster, wouldn't degrade the environment too severely. This opened the door to an infinitude of lawsuits to wrap up any effort to build anything in red tape forever. So fast forward to 2021.

The month after Gavin Newsom, governor of California, signs the law to end single-family zoning in California, seems like a massive win for the pro-housing yimbies of California. The month after that law was passed, the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco

The month after Gavin Newsom, governor of California, signs the law to end single-family zoning in California, seems like a massive win for the pro-housing yimbies of California. The month after that law was passed, the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco

The month after Gavin Newsom, governor of California, signs the law to end single-family zoning in California, seems like a massive win for the pro-housing yimbies of California. The month after that law was passed, the Board of Supervisors in San Francisco

decided to rule against an apartment building that would have added 500 total units and 100 below market rent units, so something like public or social housing, that was going to be built on a Nordstrom parking lot, just about the best possible place you could add housing in the world, a Nordstrom parking lot, because the builders, the

decided to rule against an apartment building that would have added 500 total units and 100 below market rent units, so something like public or social housing, that was going to be built on a Nordstrom parking lot, just about the best possible place you could add housing in the world, a Nordstrom parking lot, because the builders, the

decided to rule against an apartment building that would have added 500 total units and 100 below market rent units, so something like public or social housing, that was going to be built on a Nordstrom parking lot, just about the best possible place you could add housing in the world, a Nordstrom parking lot, because the builders, the

So this is a world in which the most housing-starved city in America is being starved even more of housing because of the expression of or the power of the instrumentalization of a rule past the 1970s that has allowed people to sue to stop the physical world from being changed. And I think it goes back to this idea that sometimes...

So this is a world in which the most housing-starved city in America is being starved even more of housing because of the expression of or the power of the instrumentalization of a rule past the 1970s that has allowed people to sue to stop the physical world from being changed. And I think it goes back to this idea that sometimes...

So this is a world in which the most housing-starved city in America is being starved even more of housing because of the expression of or the power of the instrumentalization of a rule past the 1970s that has allowed people to sue to stop the physical world from being changed. And I think it goes back to this idea that sometimes...