First-Hand:Environmental Pollution

Submitted by A. Michael Noll, October 30, 2025

From 1971 to 1973, I was a Technical Assistant to the Director (Dr. Edward E. David, Jr.) of the Office of Science and Technology (OST) within the Executive Office of the President, who was also Science Advisor to President Nixon. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was proposing stronger regulation of aircraft emissions – and the White House was opposed. Our office was asked to examine the data and scientific justification for the regulations.

I recall a meeting between Dr. David and the EPA people, including EPA’s Administrator William (Bill) D. Ruckelshaus that was held in the large conference room on the second floor of the Old Executive Office Building, where our offices were located. The EPA showed their justification, and, I recall, Dr. David stood up and left stating that it was bad data and science. Ruckelshaus and his people remained, discussing things with Dr. David’s folks. I recall Ruckelshaus stating that he had to follow the law and his responsibilities.

Dr. David asked me to look into it in more detail, and I contacted the EPA people. They told me that they had pollution data from Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) that justified the proposed stronger regulations. The data indicated a strong peak in the pollution around 2 AM at LAX. Since aircraft traffic was low at LAX at that hour in the early 1970s, I was skeptical on how there could be more pollution at that time. I was told that the airport pollution was swept eastward across the LA basin during the day, and would then empty out westward across LAX during the evening. I was astonished by this explanation that seemed utter nonsense to me. I asked for more examination.

Ultimately, EPA discovered that a garbage truck was parked in the early morning hours along the LAX terminal road just below the pollution monitoring station. The truck’s engine was idling, and the station was picking up the track’s pollution – nothing to do with aircraft.

However, in the end, the regulations were issued. What I learned was that data and science were over-ruled by the politics and optics of environmental regulation.

In Washington, every group has its agency (and pork-barrel) to represent it. The academic research community has the National Science Foundation, for example. Our role at the OST was not to represent the science and technology community, but to be a source of neutral science and technology advice to the President – if it were wanted and needed. But politics and other considerations might outweigh final decisions and policies – such is Washington.