Interstate compacts cause massive political controversy – links to the net benefit
Bonebrake, 13 [Justin, J.D. in Environmental and Natural Resources Law from the University of Colorado Law School, “Carpe Lacum: Asian Carp and the Great Lakes,” Colorado Natural Resources, Energy, and Environmental Law Review Vol. 24:2, https://www.colorado.edu/law/sites/default/files/Bonebrake_6713.pdf, Corrigan]
The primary flaw of cooperative horizontal federalism is the sheer amount of political will and collective action necessary for its implementation. For a compact to be enacted, it requires ratification from each state’s legislature and an approval by the simple majority in both houses of Congress, which is permitted to modify the terms of the compact to protect national interests.286 Additionally, the compact process requires that all negotiation and compromise be performed up front. No individual state can unilaterally modify the terms of the compact during the ratification process. Ultimately, success will require broad consensus and bipartisan political leadership with an eye toward the pitfalls of regional protectionism and congressional rejection. At the same time, this recommendation carries elements of a policy experiment. Can regional political pressures guarantee the protection of a shared natural resource? Can sustainability and management targets be achieved through standard setting for individual use? For now, the answers are not clear, but the importance of finding sustainable management solutions for the Great Lakes ecosystem has never been greater.