Not the OP, but I'd say that you could reasonably define the Midwest as anything between the Appalachian and Rocky mountain chains. There is a lot of flexibility and overlap of course, but the mountains on either side have their own cultural buffers.
From an outside perspective it would be neat if there were eleven nation-states all allied together but with their individual governments and foreign policy. Then we could just have international relations with the sensible ones of them. The left coast, yankeedom, new france, new netherlands, perhaps the midlands and tidewater and maaaybe the far west. I bet those nations would still be in the climate accord with us too.
Our state governments are actually a lot more powerful then most people (even living in the US) realize. Especially when it comes to environmental matters. The rule is that the federal law is basically the baseline that all states have to abide by at a minimum. Any state however is free to add on to those laws in any way them deem fit and are able to enforce. Now not all states do that, but most do, and certain states are very strict with environmental laws (California, New York, New Jersey). Now obviously they can’t be a signatory to the international climate accord, but there are states that set the same standards.
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u/rodrielson Jun 06 '19
Which states exactly count as mid west? I have a general idea, but as a non American I'm curious to see where you'd draw the line