Before EPA regulations, air and water pollution shaped life across the US. See what American cities looked like then.

• Before President Nixon created the EPA in 1970, water and air pollution weren't a federal priority.

• Photos of cities including Baltimore, Denver, and New York show hazy skies and polluted waterways.

• The Trump administration has moved to roll back environmental regulations.

Don't let the soft, sepia tones fool you — the United States used to be dangerously polluted.

Before President Richard Nixon created the Environmental Protection Agency in 1970, the environment and its well-being were not a federal priority.

Federal actions like the 1970 Clean Air Act and the 1972 Clean Water Act helped regulate water and air pollution, changing the landscape of American cities.

Since President Donald Trump returned to office in 2025, his administration and EPA administrator Lee Zeldin have sought to roll back environmental protections aimed at tackling widespread pollution.

In March 2025, the agency announced plans to reconsider the 2009 endangerment finding that allowed greenhouse gases, including methane and carbon dioxide produced by burning fossil fuels, to be regulated under the Clean Air Act. In February 2026, the EPA said it had finalized the rescission of that finding.

The administration called the move the "single largest deregulatory action in US history" and said it would help Americans save on "hidden taxes" and create more jobs.

"We are driving a dagger straight into the heart of the climate change religion to drive down cost of living for American families, unleash American energy, bring auto jobs back to the US, and more," Zeldin said in an EPA statement in March 2025, when the agency announced it would initiate 31 deregulatory actions in the agency.

The decision was met with opposition from lawmakers and environmental activists. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California promised that the state would seek legal action.

"If this reckless decision survives legal challenges, it will lead to more deadly wildfires, more extreme heat deaths, more climate-driven floods and droughts, and greater threats to communities nationwide," Newsom said in a statement.

In the early 1970s, the EPA launched the "The Documerica Project," which leveraged 100 freelance photographers to document what the US looked like. By 1974, they had taken 81,000 photos. The National Archives digitized nearly 16,000 documents and made them available online.

These 36 photos reflect how cities across the US used to look.