Clean Air Act Revamp, Climate Part of George H.W. Bush’s Legacy

George H.W. Bush was the first president to sign the U.S. onto a global climate deal, a modest effort recognizing the threat of climate change, and possibly the last to successfully take on a wholesale revision of the Clean Air Act.

His administration at times pushed back against what it viewed as overly costly environmental regulations. But the 41st president—who cut his teeth in Texas’ oil industry—left what some admirers see as an impressive legacy of environmental laws.

They include the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, which used a then-cutting edge approach of emissions trading to cut ...