Putting the Pieces Together: How Using Cooperative Federalism Can Help Solve the Climate Change Puzzle

Abstract

Climate change threatens human health and the environment through irreversible damage to ecosystems and catastrophic weather events. The United States disproportionately contributes to climate change considering its population size, through greenhouse gas emissions from automobile usage. The Environmental Protection Agency has recently limited greenhouse gas emissions, but not in a manner that will adequately combat climate change. The best solution for addressing climate change is through comprehensive land use policy and planning that decreases vehicle miles travelled. California, through Senate Bill 375, and Georgia, through Georgia Regional Transportation Authority, have implemented programs to combat greenhouse gas emissions and climate change through land use. These programs exhibit a reasoned approached to climate change, however they are not comprehensive enough. The Federal government should require the use of similar, albeit more comprehensive, programs in all states through a cooperative federalism approach to adequately reduce greenhouse gas emissions and combat climate change.