None. Despite the lefty's claims.
A long period of my career was as an environmental engineer, and any substantial gains always occurred as a result of the profit motive.
I'll give you a simple example. Onondaga Lake in Syracuse NY at one time was the most polluted lake in the US. On the south shore was located large above ground oil tanks, "Oil City" and Marley's Scrap Yard, where vehicles were shredded into the largest pile of "fluff" within a few hundred feet of two major interstates. Prior industries included chemical processing, coal gassification, you name it. We used to to joke that you could sink a shallow well anywhere in the area and pump out pure petroleum.
A developer by the name of Bob Congel bought the scrap yard about 30 years ago and built the largest mall in New York State. Seven stories high, it became the go-to place in the city and surrounding area. With the recent slow down on retail it's still as popular as ever since it has bowling alleys, brew pubs, indoor race tracks, convention meeting rooms, and similar. Soil and groundwater remediation systems were required, and were integrated into the parking facilities. Congel made millions on the rents, and cleaned up the site.
Oil City is no longer there since they couldn't afford the rent on the neighboring property. In its place are modern multi-use neighborhoods with offices, apartments, restaurants and shops.
None of that would have happened if the government had attempted to regulate Marley's and oil city out of existence. It happened because of the desire for profits.
