Here is a significant but under reported environmental success story from the US economy: Between 1990 and 2008, output by US manufacturers grew by one-third, yet air pollution from their factories was reduced by about two-thirds.
Vox reports, “Georgetown economist Arik Levinson estimated that more than 90 percent of the drop in US factory pollution since 1990 was due to companies adopting cleaner production techniques — things like switching fuels, becoming more efficient, recycling, or adopting pollution-capture technology.”
(READ the story from Vox.com)
Graph: Levinson, 2014