2006 Year in Review: Constitutional Law

Abstract

This chapter summarizes recent developments at the intersection of environmental, energy and natural resources law and the U.S. Constitution. Constitutional Law is playing an ever more prominent role in environmental law. In 2005, nearly two out of three federal environmental cases contained a constitutional issue. In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court decided several important environmental cases involving constitutional questions, including those under the 5th Amendment and the Supremacy Clause. The Court is due to decide more cases that implicate environmental law during the 2005-06 term, including those containing threshold questions about the extent to which Congress can regulate activities that affect the environment under the Commerce Clause.

The chapter has seven parts. Part One reports developments concerning congressional and state authority under the Commerce Clause, including last term’s Gonzalez v. Raich, and two cases before the Court this term. Parts Two, Three and Four examine developments in the federal-state relationship under environmental law and the Constitution, including the 10th and 11th Amendments, and the Supremacy Clause. Part Five explains two cases the Court decided under the 5th Amendment, Kelo and Lingle. Parts Six and Seven address developments under Article III (standing) and the Due Process Clause.

Keywords: Environmental Law, Natural Resources Law, Energy Law, Climate Change, Constitutional Law

JEL Classification: K32