Congress passed Grazer’s Green New Deal (“Act”) due to its c…
Congress passed Grazer’s Green New Deal (“Act”) due to its concern in the rise of poor air quality, extreme weather outbreaks throughout the country, and individuals developing asthma. The Act provided that the Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”) was tasked with regulating air pollutants, including greenhouse gasses. Section 101(a) of the Act required the EPA to establish a national system for regulating air pollutants by instantly checking methane gas emissions. According to the Act, the EPA was to also require local departments of agriculture for each local jurisdiction to conduct checks and related tasks to determine the total percentage of methane gas omitted by cattle that grazed on all state rancher’s ranches (regardless of the size of the ranch) on an interim basis until the national system of checking methane gas for greenhouse gases became operative. Section 201(a) of the Act required all local ranchers to include on their online websites an endorsement of the Act including language that shared at least one example of how the Act had reduced the methane gas emissions for that ranch. The penalty for any rancher failing to include that endorsement was $1,000 payable directly to the EPA. Section 301(a) of the Act passed by Congress authorizes either the House of Representatives or Congress, by resolution, to allow the Attorney General to continue enforcement of the Act for the purpose of regulating the amount of methane gas emissions even if the Executive Branch opposes this Act. After Congress passed the Act and before it had gone into effect, there was significant opposition to the legislation. Rob Wrangler of Wrangler Ranch in Texas filed a lawsuit on behalf of himself seeking an injunction and a declaratory judgment claiming the Act was unconstitutional. Wrangler Ranch had a large enterprise where all the cattle on the ranch were grass-fed, and the organic beef was then sold to stores in neighboring states who specialized in organic produce and organic meat. Additionally, Rob Wrangler was president of the local chapter of Ranch and Landowners Association of Texas. Consequently, his lawsuit also was also filed on behalf of the Association as well as other ranchers who had notified him that they would be negatively affected by the Act and were opposed to its implementation. Analyze whether this challenge of the constitutionality of the Act will be successful.