The Changing Climate of Cooperative Federalism: The Dynamic Role of the States in a National Strategy to Combat Climate Change

Abstract

I. INTRODUCTION II. CLIMATE CHANGE: A GLOBAL AND LOCAL PROBLEM WITH GLOBAL AND LOCAL SOLUTIONS A. State and Local Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions Can Have State- and Local-Specific Benefits B. Uneven Emissions of Greenhouse Gases Across States Create Uneven Incentives, Responsibilities and Opportunities Across States C. State and Local Efforts to Combat Climate Change Have Other Benefits III. RGGI AND OTHER NEW YORK STATE CLIMATE INITIATIVES A. RGGI: A Pioneering Cap-and-Trade Program for the Power Sector B. New York's Multiprong Approach to Addressing Climate Change IV. THE CASE FOR FEDERALISM: APPLICATION TO GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE A. Climate Change and the Dynamics of Cooperative Federalism B. Collective Benefits of State and Local Government Action to Combat Climate Change 1. States as Laboratories and the Need for Ongoing Innovation 2. State and Local Programs Can Reduce the Cost of Meeting a Federal Cap 3. Enabling Further Action in the Future C. State and Local Governments Should be Able to Incur Additional Burdens and Reap Additional Benefits D. Treatment of State and Regional Cap-and-Trade Programs V. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDED ELEMENTS OF FEDERAL LEGISLATION I. INTRODUCTION The federal government must work with, not against, states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. President Barack Obama January 26, 2009 In the past decade, state and local governments have assumed the mantle of leadership in addressing climate change in the United States. State and local leadership has laid the foundation for an effective, efficient, and economically beneficial American climate change and clean energy strategy. Indeed, a silver lining of the federal inaction on climate change over the past eight years has been that it fostered the development of innovative and pioneering efforts by state and local governments to combat climate change. One prime example of this dynamic is the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). As Congress and the federal government's executive branch finally begin to seriously consider a meaningful national climate change policy, it is critical to heed President Obama's recognition that a national approach to addressing climate change will need to include a variety of programs at each level of government. Climate change is undoubtedly unique amongst policy challenges in both its magnitude and its scope. It is both a global and local crisis, and it has both global and local solutions and impacts. Given the magnitude of the climate change crisis, our national response to climate change must be collective in nature and incorporate all levels of government in the most effective manner. The federal government cannot address the transcendent challenges of climate change alone; it must enlist states and municipalities as partners in developing and implementing the policies that are needed to address climate change. By complementing a federal program with programs and policies at the state and local levels, we will be better able to achieve our climate and energy goals at the lowest collective cost and the greatest overall benefit. Complementary state and local level programs, operating alongside a federal program, can reduce the cost of reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Moreover, innovative and aggressive state programs have already provided a model for federal action, and will continue to do so in the future. State and local governments are generally more able than the federal government to respond quickly to new scientific and technological developments. New York and other states have been implementing well-structured and successful climate change programs for a number of years. …