Federalism Returning??

 

In recent decades, Federalism, i.e., the equal sharing of legislative power between the national government and the states, has been greatly eroded by the advance of power vested in the various national governmental agencies. Many of these agencies are not under the control of the Congress or, even, the Executive—they seem to function autonomously. This has manifested an erosion of the system of checks and balances originally designed by the writers of our Constitution. The most blatant example of this take-over of power has been the Environmental Protection Agency, the EPA.

The President-elect, Donald Trump has nominated for head of this agency, Scott Pruitt, the Attorney General of Arizona. Mr. Pruitt has been known for his strong stand for states’ rights and limitation of power in the EPA. This nomination has infuriated the political left that wants more, not less, power in the agency. However, the EPA has greatly overstepped its powers in interpreting the governmental control given to it in the Clean Water Act, the Clean Air Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. Those three Acts were specifically designed to allow the EPA to set minimum standards, provide technical support, and engage in enforcement occasionally. These functions were designed by Congress to work together with the states to protect and use the benefits of a good environment. Nevertheless, the EPA has grossly overstepped its prerogatives and imposed on the states and the whole country, rules and regulations that interfere with personal liberties, local economies, and states’ rights. 

Under EPA supervision, and according to the laws referenced above, the states are allowed to craft their own implementation plans for handling environmental problems within their own boundaries. If those plans do not comport with national guidelines, the EPA is authorized to empower national guidelines of its own design. When the EPA does this, the action is the equivalent of a seizure of authority from the state. The agency took that authority exactly five times under the administrations of George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Since Barack Obama has overseen the national government, the EPA has grabbed control of state environmental regulations 56 times! This obvious over-reach of power by the EPA has made a strong statement to the states that Big Brother knows more about how states should be run than the states, themselves. This illicit power grab is one obvious manifestation of the progressive philosophy of the Obama administration which says, “Unelected ‘experts’ should govern Americans from the central government. Those experts should not be under the control of the Congress or of the people in general.”

Scott Pruitt has been a leader among states’ attorneys general opposing the EPA; and it is my opinion that he is exactly the one who should be placed in control of that agency—we need to bring back control of our states to our states.

This blog post was largely excerpted from an op-ed by Kimberley Strassel in the Wall Street Journal on 12-8-16.