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EPA's New Coal Pollution Rules: More Death, More Asthma

theQuincunx5

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I love all these people most of whom have never lived in a world as polluted as it once was talking about how pollution isn't a problem. Many of these issues were fixed at the federal level with the implementation of the Clean Water and Clean Air acts and the establishment of the EPA.

Freedom is just so much blather when one doesn't really understand what it is they are arguing against.
 
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Yonny Costopoulis

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Pollution is not just a state issue, it is not even a national issue. It is now an international issue.
I am thinking Canada gets fallout from American pollution and if situation is worse in USA situation will be worse in Canada?
 
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theQuincunx5

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Pollution is not just a state issue, it is not even a national issue. It is now an international issue.

Pollution and climate change are now pretty much global in scope. There is a value in strong centralized and coordinated action. Just like each individual state of the US didn't have to conduct WWII individually, there's no reason to think that fighting climate change and pollution is something that will work on the individual state level.
 
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iluvatar5150

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I have only see one person here that advocates Anarcho-capitalism. Let be fair here and try not to resorts to generalizations.

IME, his claim is fairly accurate, even though there may only be one or two examples in this thread. Libertarians and libertarian-leaning conservatives make a lot of these same arguments, fantasizing that each man is an island and that his actions have no consequences outside himself.
 
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ananda

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Great! It sounds like you're ready to live under my dictatorship then, as I deem my rational thought and full knowledge as superior to yours. Your "wants" are irrelevant.

Are you seriously of the opinion that there are no federal regulations? Really?
No, I'm suggesting that probably most federal regulations are unlawful under the Constitution.
 
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ananda

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No, the Constitution allows federal regulation of interstate commerce "among the several States", not all commerce, e.g. within a State. Air pollution does not involve interstate commerce, referring to the trade or traffic of commodities between States.

Second, if we run with your example, virtually everything can then be regulated. E.g. The way a person sleeps can affected his productivity which can then be said to affect commerce, which thus makes all aspects of sleep subject to federal regulation? Sharpening a pencil can add a small measure of wood particles into the air which can be said to increase "global warming" and affects commerce, which thus makes sharpening pencils subject to federal regulation? Etc. This completely defeats the purpose of having a commerce clause in the Constitution, if it can be extended to cover almost literally any activity. The reasonable conclusion is that the commerce clause is meant to be far more restrictive than it is interpreted today.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Air pollution floats across state borders. Power plants source their fuel across state borders and often sell their products across state borders. What about the process of generating and distributing power is restricted by state boundaries?

Second, if we run with your example, virtually everything can then be regulated.

rightly so

The reasonable conclusion is that the commerce clause is meant to be far more restrictive than it is interpreted today.

Even assuming that's true, I fail to see how airborne pollution that quite easily crosses state boundaries fails to meet this standard.
 
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High Fidelity

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Surely mostly in the areas that voted for it?

If they wanted it then the consequences can be shouldered by them.

The only pity here is for those that didn't vote for Trump and children who are victims of their parents idiocy.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Surely mostly in the areas that voted for it?.

Not necessarily, no. I’ve seen some pics floating around the last couple days from the National Weather Service describing how they look at satellite photos and determine what’s smoke and what’s cloud cover. (I’d link to it but I’m on my phone) The example they used was a shot of central NY, and the high-altitude smoke overhead was believed to be from somewhere in Minnesota or Canada.
 
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Vylo

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from me.

This is returning power to the states, where it belongs. If a state decides to enforce Obama-era type rules, then more power to them.
That's terrible, because it affects other states. We've been getting pollution from Pennsi coming over here for years despite having strict regulations on it.

Pollution doesn't suddenly stop when it hits a legal boundary. You need to have a federal body to oversee it for that reason.
 
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ananda

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Pollution is not commerce, nobody is trading or trafficking pollution.
 
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ananda

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Pollution is not commerce, nobody is trading or trafficking pollution. The commerce clause does not give the federal gov't authority to regulate it.

If the People decides pollution needs to be regulated at the federal level, then a Constitutional amendment could address it.

Until then, whether or not "it should be regulated at the federal level" is a separate question from "is it lawful for the federal government to regulate it".
 
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super animator

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What is your experience consist of? I just recall another user who left this forum years ago, who pretty much advocate Anarcho-capitalism. That bring my total up to two.
 
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hedrick

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Until then, whether or not "it should be regulated at the federal level" is a separate question from "is it lawful for the federal government to regulate it".
Remember, the actual question is whether it is lawful for the Federal government to establish minimum standards for states, and give them incentives to follow those standards in their state regulations. Note by the way that there are limits to the level of incentives that can be used before it is considered coercion of the states.
 
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ananda

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IMO it is unlawful ... as no State, to my knowledge, engages in pollution commerce.
 
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iluvatar5150

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Pollution is not commerce, nobody is trading or trafficking pollution.

Yes, pollution is part of commerce and yes, they are trading or trafficking pollution (illegal dumping is a form of trading).

Waste management is commerce. The impacts of waste byproducts (including the costs of proper disposal and exposure) are parts of the cost of providing electricity. If the provider of a product/service has to bear all of the expenses of providing that product, then the provider will adjust the price upwards to cover those expenses. Likewise, if the purchaser has to bear some of the expenses, then they will negotiate the prices downward to compensate for that added expense. If, however, one or both of the parties find a way to offload some of those expenses onto a third part, then they can both come out ahead - the provider can lower prices due to lowered costs, while the purchaser benefits from lowered prices. Meanwhile, the third party gets stuck footing part of the bill despite not being a party to the transaction.

This offloading of expenses is called an "externality" (Specifically, it's a negative externality. Positive externalities do exist as well.) and it's economics 101. Within a market economy, even for libertarians, government regulation is a perfectly legitimate remedy for market-distorting externalities.



What is your experience consist of? I just recall another user who left this forum years ago, who pretty much advocate Anarcho-capitalism. That bring my total up to two.

Libertarian ideology is something of a continuum and IME LOTS of folks like to use "freedom" and "constitutionality" as simple-minded, kneejerk justifications for reducing federal regulation, despite federal oversight being perfectly legal and appropriate. They don't have to exist way on the fringes, arguing that federal law == dictatorship, in order to exhibit some of the same ideas.
 
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iluvatar5150

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IMO it is unlawful ... as no State, to my knowledge, engages in pollution commerce.

Your base of knowledge in this area is extremely porous.
 
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ananda

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I did not bring up libertarianism at all.

I am merely pointing out that the federal government has no Constitutional authority to regulate non-commercial pollution (like the side products of coal burning), and your proposed case stretches the Constitution to the point of rendering it pointless.
 
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