Urbana, Illinois native and University of Illinois alumnus Dr. Richard Lazarus is distinguished among conservation advocates for the many environmental law cases he has argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. As Prairie Rivers Network’s honored guest speaker for our 45th Anniversary Annual Dinner, Dr. Lazarus applauded the environmental protections achieved in the last forty years, protections that were the result of revolutionary new federal laws that recognized how essential water, air, and land are to this country’s future prosperity.
Still, the road from environmental legislation to a cleaner world may involve significant detours. And unexpected challenges can present themselves in the form of nine robed figures who have the final say on interpreting the laws of the land.
Posing the question “what does affordable health care have to do with the environment?” Lazarus illuminated how Supreme Court decisions in “non-environmental” cases can impact the reach of federal environmental law protections.
Congress has often relied on the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution for its authority to regulate clean air, land, and water. But Courts have long interpreted the Commerce Clause as granting Congress only “limited’ and “enumerated” powers. A recent U.S. Supreme Court case (NFIB v. Sibelius) concerned the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. The issue in this case was not whether affordable health care is good or bad. The question for the Court was whether the Act’s provisions for expanding Medicare exceeded the federal government’s power over the states.
The Affordable Care Act provided additional Medicaid funding to states, but if a state refused to implement the Act’s provisions to expand Medicaid, that state would lose all of its Medicaid funding. The Supreme Court ruled that this specific condition was not an allowed “incentive” provided by the federal government, and would have to be re-written.
The Supreme Court’s decision in NFIP v. Sibelius is relevant to protecting our environment because many federal environmental regulations provide “incentive” funding for states to implement federal regulations. For some environmental programs, if states fail to comply with federal pollution standards, they lose federal funding. Legal scholars such as Dr. Lazarus are evaluating the possibility that the Supreme Court may in the future apply its Commerce Clause reasoning in the Affordable Care Act case to invalidate funding provisions in federal environmental laws. This would in effect weaken federal laws that we have counted on for decades to protect individuals, communities and wildlife.
In closing, Dr. Lazarus stressed that Prairie Rivers Network members play an essential role in protecting the rivers and streams we know and love. The protections we win through local and statewide efforts are less vulnerable to changes in the interpretive style of the Supreme Court. Supreme Court Justices come and go, but individual, local groups and other members of the river communities like ours instill, grow, and pass on the passion that will ensure clean water and healthy rivers for this and future generations.
