{"id":246,"date":"2011-08-01T00:07:30","date_gmt":"2011-08-01T04:07:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/harvardelr.org\/?p=246"},"modified":"2023-07-25T16:00:32","modified_gmt":"2023-07-25T20:00:32","slug":"commerce-in-the-commons-a-unified-theory-of-natural-capital-regulation-under-the-commerce-clause","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/journals.law.harvard.edu\/elr\/2011\/08\/01\/commerce-in-the-commons-a-unified-theory-of-natural-capital-regulation-under-the-commerce-clause\/","title":{"rendered":"Commerce in the Commons: A Unified Theory of Natural Capital Regulation Under the Commerce Clause"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Blake Hudson<\/em><\/p>\n

Scholars continue to debate the scope of Congress\u2019s Commerce Clause authority and whether fluctuations in the U.S. Supreme Court\u2019s Commerce Clause jurisprudence place federal environmental regulatory authority at risk. Yet when one analyzes major Commerce Clause cases involving resource regulation since the beginning of the modern regulatory state, a consistent theme emerges: both the Supreme Court and Circuit Courts of Appeals have consistently upheld federal authority to regulate depletable natural resources, the appropriation of which is non-excludable \u2014 key characteristics of a commons. Commerce Clause jurisprudence can be interpreted as treating appropriation of this natural capital, here described as \u201cprivatized commons resources,\u201d as fundamentally meeting the third test for determining the validity of federal legislation under the Commerce Clause \u2014 the \u201csubstantial effects\u201d test. Using commons analysis to meet the substantial effects test has the potential to provide a unified theory of federal environmental regulatory authority under the Commerce Clause, a clearer statement of the jurisprudential approach in environmental cases, and more certainty and effectiveness in environmental and natural resources legislation. Commons analysis also assists in answering persistent questions arising in Commerce Clause cases, including when the \u201caggregation principle\u201d may be invoked to find substantial effects on interstate commerce, what the \u201cobject of regulation\u201d is in environmental Commerce Clause cases, and what the proper scope of federal Commerce Clause authority is given constitutional federalism limitations.<\/p>\n

Cite as: <\/strong>Blake Hudson, Commerce in the Commons: A Unified Theory of Natural Capital Regulation Under the Commerce Clause<\/em>, 35 Harv. Envtl. L. Rev.<\/span> 375 (2011).<\/p>\n

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By Blake Hudson Scholars continue to debate the scope of Congress\u2019s Commerce Clause authority and whether fluctuations in the U.S. 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