Search

Donald Trump ran his campaign on an anti-federalist agenda. He asserted that the federal government was too large and that regulation was the key problem choking the economy. A large portion of the country agreed. Apparently, Trump's arguments especially resonated with voters in Republican led states. Polling did not accurately predict Trump's success in the 2016 Electoral College. To many, Donald Trump's election as President came as a great surprise. Traditional polling reported in the press did not predict Trump's electoral victory. Patterns in public response to some of President Obama's second term environmental health regulation more accurately predicted the electoral map. As the second term Obama EPA proposed additional regulation, resistance in the central United States grew. This Article tracks the legal reaction of states across the country to Obama second term regulations governing shale oil and gas extraction (what the public calls "fracking"), the rule revising the definition of "Waters of the United States," and the "Clean Power Plan."2 The Article demonstrates that with each new regulation, opposition to the Obama environmental plan grew. The map of state reaction to the Clean Power Plan (the final rule in the suite of rules examined) shows a map that resembles, if not mirrors, the November 2016 electoral map. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]