As our nation’s capital recovers from yet another massive blizzard, the problem of unregulated snow can no longer be ignored. It’s time for Congress to set limits on the crystalline mayhem that descends through the atmosphere, wreaking havoc on all hard-working Americans.<\/p>\n
Certainly, snow-control legislation would require political willpower and bipartisan support. But if today’s policymakers cannot put an end to snowstorms, none of us will escape these boom-and-bust blizzards that undermine the foundations of our nation’s growth and prosperity. <\/p>\n
Consider the facts.<\/p>\n
Local governments – particularly plow crews – cannot deal with snow effectively. Weatherpersons “predict” snow but don’t do anything about it. With the D.C. area yet again buried in nearly 2 feet, essential federal services have been shut down. Many government workers are being encouraged to take leave days after the initial powder dump. <\/p>\n
Snow is costly for taxpayers, as well. It’s expensive to clear. Salting roads even in a southern state like North Carolina requires 29,000 tons of sodium chloride, costing some $2.5 million. And then there are the trucks and plows and workers on extended overtime – all of which gobble up taxpayer dollars and break strained budgets. <\/p>\n
But the costs of snow removal are insignificant compared to the billions of dollars lost through decreased economic productivity. <\/p>\n
Snowbound businesses close down. Consumers don’t shop. Schools shut their doors. Even the financial sector freezes. As soon as it started snowing, the World Bank declared a holiday. <\/p>\n
With every flake that falls from the sky, roads become increasingly slick. Traffic comes to a standstill. Hospital emergency rooms overflow with accidents and falls, driving up health costs. Public transportation seizes up. Airports shut down, flights are diverted, and Amtrak suspends service. <\/p>\n
In short, everything grinds to a halt. <\/p>\n
Unfortunately, because snow is a global phenomenon, banning it will require worldwide cooperation. But the first step is regulating it in the United States. As we’ve seen countless times, building an international consortium – particularly through the United Nations – invariably requires U.S. leadership and support. <\/p>\n
Regulating snowfall will not be easy. There are several constitutional and practical challenges, but none is insurmountable. <\/p>\n
The most obvious question is whether the federal government actually has the authority to ban snow. Federalist diehards – who claim that virtually any Washington regulation intrudes upon states’ rights – would invariably challenge the law, citing the 10th Amendment. <\/p>\n
But a Supreme Court challenge predicated on states’ rights is unlikely to succeed for one obvious reason. Snow is not confined to individual states. The Commerce Clause of Article I empowers the federal government to regulate matters that spill – or, in this case, blow – over state lines. Simply put, the Supreme Court is unlikely to interpret snowfall as a state-specific issue. <\/p>\n
The bigger problem, of course, is the practical one. Regulating precipitation – or even banning snow entirely – won’t actually stop snow from falling. Virtually all meteorologists agree that, given certain atmospheric conditions, snow will continue to fall from the sky regardless of any federal law. <\/p>\n
Although this may seem like an intractable problem, there is a simple solution. Congress should create a special committee – comprising a blue-ribbon panel of experts (with at least one labor representative) – to study the problem and submit recommendations four years hence, at which time a more effective law could be passed. <\/p>\n
The committee – and its various subcommittees – could be funded by a penny-per-shovel tax. Some might argue that taxing shovels could actually exacerbate the snow problem by discouraging Americans from buying them. However, this problem can also be fixed through legislation. <\/p>\n
Congress could simply mandate that all Americans purchase shovels. Yes, there would need to be a carve-out for Alaskans who already own shovels, and perhaps a Medicaid-style program for those who cannot afford shovels. But those are minor details that could be worked out in conference committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
As our nation’s capital recovers from yet another massive blizzard, the problem of unregulated snow can no longer be ignored. It’s time for Congress to set limits on the crystalline mayhem that descends through the atmosphere, wreaking havoc on all hard-working Americans. Certainly, snow-control legislation would require political willpower and bipartisan support. But if today’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4325,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-296207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4325"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=296207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/296207\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=296207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=296207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mereja.media\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=296207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}