Taking the Legislative Temperature: Which Federal Climate Change Legislative Proposal is “Best”? (Part II)
By Victor B. Flatt[*]
[Editor's Note: We are pleased to present Part II of Professor Flatt's piece on climate change legislative proposals (Part I was posted here). To read the piece as a whole, you may download the pdf or view the persistent html version.]
II. What is the best method of reaching our goal?
The next question that must be addressed is how to best reach the goal that we have set. Professor Rose discussed four broad methods to implement policy goals in environmental legislation, which she colloquially refers to as “do-nothing,” “keepout,” “rightway,” and “property.”[52] “Rightway” has sometimes been characterized as command and control and “property” may also be identified as market mechanisms; moreover, other thinkers and writers may further divide and clarify policy implementation devices, such as feasibility or education.[53] The pluses and minuses of each of these methods have been explored and debated, and sometimes they are linked to what the ultimate goal of the regulation should be.[54]

