Month: June 2024

Natural Asset Companies: ESG Bogeyman Suffers Political Demise Joe Honeycutt On October 4, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) published for comment a proposed rule change to amend the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) Listed Company Manual to allow for the listing of Natural Asset Companies (NAC).[1] The proposed rule change described NACs as… Continue reading Honeycutt – Winter 2024

Inflation Reduction Act Delivers Energy Justice through Tax Incentives for Renewable Energy Infrastructure in Low-Income Communities Ellison Hersch The United States is struggling with failing infrastructure and shifting towards fulfilling climate change goals, while still being reliant on fossil fuels. The shift in policy to mitigate the effects of climate change has included a shift… Continue reading Hersch-Winter 2024

Administrative Convenience or Constitutional Limit? The Looming Threat of Moore in Fighting Inequity Brian Ehrenkranz Imagine two taxpayers: Laura and Cooper. At the start of the year, both have $100K in economic power. Laura’s $100K is invested in the S&P 500, while Cooper’s is in a savings account yielding 2% interest. Their economic status is… Continue reading Ehrenkranz – Winter 2024

Major Questions About the FTC’s Proposed Ban on Junk Fees Brian Hill If you have booked a hotel, purchased a concert ticket, or ordered from a restaurant online recently, you have probably noticed that the price on your checkout screen is higher than the price that was advertised to you when you decided to add… Continue reading Hill – Winter 2024

Bunker Down: How Bunker Fuel Use Gets Counted (and Discounted) in International Emission Reporting Josh Bretthauer The Paris Climate Agreement was a landmark international agreement, signed onto by 196 countries agreeing to develop “Nationally Determined Contribution” (NDC) plans to keep global warming below 2ºC.[1] Nations’ “economy-wide absolute emission reduction targets,” where countries track, report, and… Continue reading Bretthauer – Winter 2024

The Railway Safety Act of 2023: A Legislative Switchyard David Berg The East Palestine, Ohio train derailment on February 3rd, 2023, caught the attention of the national and international media. The tiny village of 5,000 people on the Pennsylvania border—20 miles from Youngstown, 40 miles from Pittsburgh—lies in Ohio’s Appalachian region. The Norfolk-Southern train hauled… Continue reading Berg – Winter 2024

Municipalization: Is Ann Arbor Breaking Free from DTE? If Not, it Should Be. Libby Antonneau In the late 1990s, the town of Alma, Michigan, tried to break free from Consumers Energy Co. and start its own city electric utility, but the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) told the city they would owe the company millions… Continue reading Antonneau – Winter 2024

Cementing Cemex: Solid Solutions to Employer Election Shenanigans Liam Pembroke Over the last few years, news about the administrative state has been generally disheartening for those who support strong administrative agencies. Cases like West Virginia v. EPA, Alabama Association of Realtors v. HHS, National Federation of Independent Business v. OSHA, and the imminent Loper Bright… Continue reading L. Pembroke- Winter 2024