No Second-Class States: Why the California Exceptions in the Clean Air Act Are Unconstitutional
Editor's Summary: The U.S. Department of Transportation's new fuel economy rules for light trucks and sport utility vehicles are under fire, in part because the Bush Administration has taken the position that the new rules preempt the ability of California to set its own stricter rules under the CAA. Yet according to Valerie Brader, there is a weightier reason the new rules should stand: the provisions of the CAA giving California these regulatory powers are unconstitutional. She argues that the equal footing doctrine, a principle of American law that predates the U.S. Constitution and is still in force today, prohibits laws that create a differential in governing power between the states. Congress' attempt to give California powers not given to other states violates that doctrine.