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Fracking and Federalism Choice

Fracking and Federalism Choice

Full Title:  Fracking and Federalism Choice
Author(s):  Michael Burger
Publisher(s):  University of Pennsylvania Law Review
Publication Date: January 1, 2013
Full Text: Download Resource
Description (excerpt):

According to the author Michael Burger, “In this Response, I offer a set of constructive challenges to Professor Spence’s Article. In Part I, I argue that fracking’s federalism-choice question has already been answered, and that but for the outdated and under- justified exemptions mentioned above, fracking is already under the jurisdiction of federal regulators. In Part II, I conduct an alternative federalism- choice analysis that adds to Professor Spence’s analysis in three ways. First, I balance his analysis by examining rationales commonly used to justify decentralization, rather than federalization, of environmental law. Second, I argue that given the fast-paced growth in drilling activity across the country, fracking’s environmental impacts should be analyzed with regard to their cumulative effects. When so viewed, it is clear that fracking gives rise to interstate, and even national, problems that must be addressed accordingly. Third, I argue that widespread impacts on rural America weigh in favor of federal regulation.”

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