The Panel noted the US argument that clean air was an exhaustible resource within the
meaning of Article XX(g), since it could be exhausted by pollutants such as those emitted through
the consumption of gasoline. Lakes, streams, parks, crops and forests were also natural resources
that could be exhausted by air pollution. Measures to control air pollution were therefore
measures to conserve exhaustible natural resources. Venezuela disagreed, considering that air was
not an exhaustible natural resource within the meaning of Article XX(g); rather, its “condition”
changed depending on its cleanliness. Article XX(g) was originally intended to cover exports of
exhaustible goods such as petroleum and coal; to expand it to cover “conditions” of renewable
resources was not justified.