In a recent article in the Environmental Forum, David Rejeski,  STIP director, presents the results of a survey to identify the greatest environmental accomplishments of the last forty years.  

The survey identified two peaks of innovative environmental policies, occurring at the beginning of the 1970s and 1990s.  Two-thirds of the top ranked accomplishments occurred in a small four-year window starting around 1970 and included the passage of the Clean Water and Clean Air Acts, the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency, the phase out of lead, the ban on DDT, and the Endangered Species Act.  Download the article here.