Cap and Trade Nullification Legislation

The following is Tenth Amendment Center approved legislation to nullify federal overreach through proposed Cap and Trade or other environmental laws and regulations. As the legislation affirms, such power was not delegated to the federal government and thus, was left in the hands of the states. Activists, we encourage you to send this to your state senators and representatives – and ask them to introduce this legislation in your state.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF (enter state):

SECTION 1. Pursuant to (SECTION AND ARTICLE) of the (STATE) Constitution, there is hereby ordered the following legislative referendum which shall be filed with the Secretary of State and addressed to the Governor of the state, who shall submit the same to the people for their approval or rejection at the General Election, to be held on (DATE).

SECTION 2. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the (STATE) Statutes as (SECTION AND TITLE), unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

This act shall be known and may be cited as the “(STATE) Environmental Authority Act”.

SECTION 3. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the (STATE) Statutes as (SECTION AND TITLE), unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

The Legislature finds that the:

1. Tenth Amendment defines the total scope of federal power as being that which has been delegated by the People of the Several States to the federal government, and all power not delegated to the federal government in the Constitution of the United States is reserved to the States, respectively or to the People themselves. The powers reserved to the People and the State of (STATE) are those powers as they were understood at the time that (STATE) was admitted to statehood, excluding amendments. The reservation of those powers is a matter of contract between the state and people of (STATE) and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by (STATE) and the United States;

2. Ninth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits the federal government from violating or infringing upon rights not specifically enumerated in the Constitution and reserves to the people of (STATE) certain rights as they were understood at the time that (STATE) was admitted to statehood, excluding amendments. The guarantee of those rights is a matter of contract between the people and the State of (STATE) and the United States as of the time that the compact with the United States was agreed upon and adopted by (STATE) and the United States; and

3. Power to regulate interstate commerce was delegated to the federal government in the Constitution. As understood at the time of the founding, the regulation of commerce was meant to empower Congress to regulate the buying and selling of products made by others (and sometimes land), associated finance and financial instruments, and navigation and other carriage, across state jurisdictional lines. This interstate regulation of “commerce” did not include agriculture, manufacturing, mining, malum in se crime, or land use. Nor did it include activities that merely “substantially affected” commerce; and

4. Power vested in Congress to “regulate” an activity does not include the power to “prohibit” such activity; and

5. Regulation of intrastate commerce is reserved to the States or to the People under the Ninth and Tenth Amendments to the United States Constitution.

SECTION 4. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified in the (STATE) Statutes as (SECTION AND TITLE), unless there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:

A. The Legislature of the State of (STATE) declares that the regulation of hazardous waste, clean air, water and of the production, exploration, drilling, development, operation, transportation and processing of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products that originate and remain inside the State of (STATE) and have not been proven and adjudicated by the (STATE) court system or the federal court system to specifically be causing, or to have caused, quantifiable harm to any persons or places beyond the borders of (STATE) shall be intrastate commerce and shall not be subject to federal law or federal regulation under the authority of the United States Congress to regulate interstate commerce.

B. Each state environmental agency and each state agency with limited environmental responsibilities, within its areas of environmental jurisdiction, shall to the extent deemed necessary cooperate with federal environmental agencies in the regulation of hazardous waste, clean air, water and of the production, exploration, drilling, development, operation, transportation and processing of oil, natural gas, petroleum, and petroleum products but shall not be required to enforce federal laws or regulations relating to such environmental regulation.

SECTION 5. Any federal law, rule, order, or other act by the federal government violating the provisions of this act is hereby declared to be invalid in this state, is not recognized by and is specifically rejected by this state, and is considered as null and void and of no effect in this state.

SECTION 6. Any official, agent, or employee of the government of the United States, or employee of a corporation providing services to the government of the United States that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this act shall be guilty of a class B felony.

SECTION 7. Any public servant of the State of (STATE) that enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation of the government of the United States in violation of this act shall be guilty of a class B misdemeanor.

SECTION 8. This act shall become effective (DATE), upon approval by the people of the State of (STATE)

http://www.tenthamendmentcenter.com/legislation/cap-and-trade-nullification/

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6 JULY 2010

Here is the most recent research on Cap and Trade broken down into three sections: