The environment is so pervasive that it requires collective regulation rather than individual effort to control it properly. Since our environment transcends state and city boundaries, it is necessary for the federal government to be involved in its regulation. Anything short of federal regulation would be ineffective.
The regulation by the government of environmental matters is an appropriate function of the federal government because it involves the health and safety of all citizens just like providing an army to protect us during a war. Problems like global warming, pollution, and acid rain are issues that can only be solved at the highest level of government. To address environmental matters, it requires both federal government regulation as well as individual effort. However, the federal government must be the key to both regulating and encouraging environmental initiatives.
Federal regulation is the preferred instrument because coordination between all levels of government is necessary. This is consistent with my own political belief that the government should play an important role in solving issues that are important to our lives, such as the environment we live in, healthcare, financial regulation, and minimum standards of living.
I agree that federal regulation is necessary, but I think the other levels of government can also effect change concerning the environment. Consider community initiatives that promote recycling or improved urban design standards. The federal government can't initiate something that intimate. It has neither the time nor resources.
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