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> If Congress has the authority to regulate vehicle emissions, it has the authority to preempt a particular state’s attempts to impose stronger regulations than
by human20190310 7y ago
> If Congress has the authority to regulate vehicle emissions, it has the authority to preempt a particular state’s attempts to impose stronger regulations than the federal standard.
I don't see how one follows from the other. One is a regulation of emissions; the other is a regulation of a state's regulations. If California isn't permitting things that are prohibited by the national standard, then Congress should not be intervening.
- rayiner 7y agoThe power to regulate an area is based on the subject matter, whether it qualifies as “interstate commerce,” not whether some conduct within that domain is permitted or not. It’s not a one-way ratchet where Congress sets a floor and states can ratchet it up if they want. Sometimes that’s what Congress wants to do, but other times it decides that some things should be unregulated beyond a certain threshold. That’s a function of the regulatory framework Congress chooses to enact, not what the Commerce Clause empowers Congress to do.