Cooperation or Coercion on Climate: Is the EPA Trying to Deputize the States?

Federalism & Separation of Powers Practice Group Teleforum

It has been argued that EPA's recently announced carbon emissions rule is just the latest attempt to draw states into the implementation of its regulations. The Supreme Court has long been permissive of such "cooperative federalism" programs in both the regulatory and spending contexts, insisting in New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997) that such programs constitute mere "encouragement" not rising to the level of coercion or commandeering. But Texas's fight to resist being drawn into implementing EPA's greenhouse gas regulations suggests that federal "encouragement" can be deeply coercive, employing penalties against the state's economy that courts have no doctrine to account for.

  • Prof. Michael S. Greve, George Mason University School of Law
  • Mario Loyola, Senior Fellow, Texas Public Policy Foundation
  • Dr. Bryan W. Shaw, Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

It has been argued that EPA's recently announced carbon emissions rule is just the latest attempt to draw states into the implementation of its regulations. The Supreme Court has long been permissive of such "cooperative federalism" programs in both the regulatory and spending contexts, insisting in New York v. United States (1992) and Printz v. United States (1997) that such programs constitute mere "encouragement" not rising to the level of coercion or commandeering. But Texas's fight to resist being drawn into implementing EPA's greenhouse gas regulations suggests that federal "encouragement" can be deeply coercive, employing penalties against the state's economy that courts have no doctrine to account for.

  • Prof. Michael S. Greve, George Mason University School of Law
  • Mario Loyola, Senior Fellow, Texas Public Policy Foundation
  • Dr. Bryan W. Shaw, Chairman, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality

Call begins at 2:00 p.m. Eastern Time.

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