Lone Star Misstep:How Texas’s “Free Speech” Gambit Threatens First Amendment Principals and Tees up the Gutting of the Administrative State Logan Moore Introduction Conservative commentators have long decried what they describe as “liberal bias” in the news media,[1] higher education,[2] and elsewhere. Now, too, they argue that social media companies are biased and discriminating against… Continue reading Moore – Winter 2024
Author: mjeal-online
Magrath – Winter 2024
The Power Is Down (Again) in Tree Town: Examining Electric Utility Municipalization in Ann Arbor Nathaniel Magrath Over the last several years, Ann Arbor residents have organized a push to municipalize the city’s power grid.[1] While similar efforts to municipalize electric utilities have also gained momentum across the country, motivations for these efforts vary.[2] Efforts… Continue reading Magrath – Winter 2024
Lyon – Winter 2024
Biden’s Reinvigoration of Environmental Justice in the Administrative State Nate Lyon The nation first turned its eyes to environmental justice when an African-American community in North Carolina protested the siting of a hazardous waste landfill in its neighborhood.[1] When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People staged a massive protest, the concept of… Continue reading Lyon – Winter 2024
Longley – Winter 2024
From Trees’ Rights to Treaty Rights: A Brief Analysis of Rights of Nature Enforcement Elise Longley In 1972, legal scholar Christopher Stone published his essay “Should Trees Have Standing?” introducing the concept of rights of nature to the Western legal system.[1] Shortly after Stone’s essay was published, the Supreme Court in Sierra Club v. Morton… Continue reading Longley – Winter 2024
Lavoile – Winter 2024
Sierra Club, the EPA, and the Fight over Detroit’s Air Gio Lavoile In May of 2023, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) finalized a clean data determination for the metro Detroit area[1] and determined that the area had achieved attainment status in accordance with the 2015 8-hour National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. This… Continue reading Lavoile – Winter 2024
Khoury – Winter 2024
Banning Coal: Feasibility and Constitutionality Elias Khoury Abating the accelerating climate crisis will require drastic measures. Countries like the United States, with its outsized contribution to environmental breakdown, need to do the most. One major driver of American ecological impact is coal. America runs on it. In 2007, coal was responsible for a whopping 49%… Continue reading Khoury – Winter 2024
Honeycutt – Winter 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
Hersch-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
Foster – Winter 2024
Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument & Judicial, Congressional, and Local Opposition to Modern Executive Action under the Antiquities Act Heather Foster On January 12, 2017, President Obama issued an executive order redesignating nearly 47,000 acres of forestland in Oregon and California as part of an expansion to the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument.[1] This redesignation halted all timber-harvesting activity… Continue reading Foster – Winter 2024
Ehrenkranz – Winter 2024
Administrative Convenience or Constitutional Limit? The Looming Threat of Moore in Fighting Inequity Joseph 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