Important Keywords

venue/form shopping (snowmobile chapter)

• ooking fot yor chosen preferred result

  • This was the way that same sex marriage was legalized → not going to happen at national level. A more admittable venue were states like San Francisco or Massachusetts. Using federalism as venue/form shopping for this matter. 

  • Legalizing cannabis in municipalies and states → creating a map in the hope it will result in a collective choice. 

  • Federalism is conducive of this way ⇒ finding the conducive arena at a municipality or state level when there is no enough consensus for reaching a federal level. 

Chevron doctrine / deference 

• Decision from 1984 – the Courts because they are not experts on how to implement the Clean Air Act at a local level → they should defer the implementation to executive federal agencies. 

• Opening a new for of venue/form shopping. 

Federalism

division of power between national governments, states, and municipalities (they have the power to do anything that is not related in the Constitution)

Racing to the top

California, Illinois, New York (democratic environmental blue states that lead on the environmental protections), Texas is an outlier  → innovate policies 

Racing the bottom

• Cornucopian values prioritizing economic growth

  • Pennsylvania (fracking, natural gas → not having banned fracking while its neighbor New York State has)

  • Ohio → larger reserves of these kind of natural states 

  • South Plains

  • They all share in common the characteristics of being red-cornucopian-economic growth 

Transboundary Problem:

• Definition: Environmental issues that cross political, geographical, or administrative boundaries, requiring cooperation between multiple jurisdictions (e.g., countries, states, or local governments).

• Examples:

• Chesapeake Bay Pollution: The bay’s health depends on actions taken in multiple states (Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, etc.), leading to interstate agreements like the Chesapeake Bay Program.

Non point source pollution:

• Definition: Pollution that comes from diffuse sources rather than a single, identifiable location (like a factory or sewage pipe). Often harder to regulate because it involves multiple contributors.

• Examples:

• Agricultural Runoff (Chesapeake Bay & Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone): Fertilizers, pesticides, and animal waste wash into rivers, causing nutrient pollution and algal blooms that create dead zones.

Ecosystem based management(EBM):

• Definition: A holistic approach to environmental management that considers entire ecosystems, including human activities, rather than focusing on a single species or resource.

• Examples:

• New England Fisheries & ITQs (Individual Transferable Quotas): Managing fish stocks sustainably by considering ecosystem interactions, species health, and economic needs.

• Chesapeake Bay Watershed Management: Implementing nutrient reduction programs, wetland restoration, and agricultural best practices across multiple states.