One of the great paradoxes of American life is that of the nation's self-image as the “land of the free” and the reality of living in one of world's more tightly regulated societies.

If John Wayne were to stroll down certain Main Streets at noon today, he would not just risk being arrested for jay-walking and carrying an exposed weapon; he might also face charges for smoking tobacco in the saloon the previous evening, or lighting a bonfire in his own back garden. And quite right, too. Sensible regulation has become an integral part of the American way of life.

The European Union may talk a good talk when it comes to rules and regulations, but the truth is that effective measures to clean up water and air — to give just two examples — were pioneered in the United States and are tirelessly enforced there by federal agencies of formidable power and reach.

The largest and most influential of these is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), which was founded by President Richard Nixon in 1970 during the environmental movement's first, noisy spring (see page 892). Today, the EPA is an US$8-billion agency, and its 17,000 staff carry an array of legal and technical expertise, and legislative authority, that sister agencies abroad can barely dream of.

US President George W. Bush and a number of his key supporters abhor the EPA with an unusual venom. However, it has never been expedient, or even polite, for them to say as much. Furthermore, under a political system renowned for creating budgetary deficits, it has not been feasible for them to actually cut back the agency to any significant extent.

Instead, since 2000, parts of the EPA have existed in a peculiar limbo. Inside the ironically named Ronald Reagan Building and other agency premises, lawyers in some sections are paid handsome wages to do very little, rather than pursue major regulatory infringements that — they know full well — their politically appointed bosses will not follow through in court. 'Commissioners' from the White House Office of Management and Budget or the Council on Environmental Quality roam the corridors, making sure no one is getting too zealous, and reporting back to regulated industries on things to dodge or cover up.

Thankfully, these creepy characters lack the authority to actually fire the conscientious lawyers and scientists who staff the EPA. Like their colleagues at other regulatory agencies, notably the Food and Drug Administration (where political interference, although present, has been less brazen), these people are lying low, aware that no future administration, Republican or Democrat, is likely to hold the agency's underlying mission in such contempt. With a more supportive Congress, and a Supreme Court asserting the agency's power to regulate carbon emissions, an unfortunate period in the EPA's history is drawing to a close.