We The People: This Day in History, December 17
LBJ Signs Clean Air Act Major Expansion of Federal Air Pollution Controls
WACO, Texas (KWTX) - On December 17, 1963, President Lyndon B Johnson, or LBJ, signed into law the Clean Air Act.
This was one of the first major pieces of environmental legislation in the United States to become law.
The act empowers federal and state agencies to research and regulate air pollution, marking a major expansion of government efforts to fight back against the damage being done to the climate.
LBJ, who was born and died in Texas, signed this into law less than a month after becoming President.
Upon doing so, he said, “Now, under this legislation, we can halt the trend toward greater contamination of our atmosphere. We can seek to control industrial wastes discharged into the air. We can find the ways to eliminate dangerous haze and smog.”
Copyright 2025 KWTX. All rights reserved.
