President Donald Trump's decision to withdraw the U.S. from the Trans-Pacific Partnership serves as a critical blow to the effectiveness of the deal for other participating countries.
Time for Serious Deliberation: Medical Marijuana and the Benefits on Kentucky’s Failing Pension System
Beyond the ongoing moral debate surrounding medical marijuana, Kentucky now faces a major financial crisis that is affecting the state’s pension system. Keeping the state's financial struggles in mind, it is time for Kentucky representatives to put aside their party preference and deliberate about the benefits legalizing medical marijuana will have on the economy.
Atlantic Sunrise Pipeline Continues Construction After DC Circuit Decision
Due to the catastrophic failures of all natural gas transportation methods, such as spillages and harmful chemicals escaping barrels, people are wary of new pipelines. Accordingly, there has been a recent, and large, controversy regarding the installation of the new pipeline, Atlantic Sunrise. Atlantic Sunrise runs through ten counties of Pennsylvania and will hopefully provide natural gas to southern states such as Alabama. The near $3 billion pipeline is threatened by activists who are protesting every step of construction, but the DC Circuit Court has refused to block the pipeline by dissolving an administrative stay on construction of the pipeline.
The Modernization of Biotechnology Regulations: Will the Third Time be the Charm?
Biotechnology in the agriculture industry has been around for decades and has been regulated by the federal government since 1986. Agricultural biotechnology is a variety of tools utilized by farmers to manage and optimize production. With decades old biotechnology regulations and new approaches in gene editing (e.g., CRISPR) taking over the scientific community by storm and proving to be a powerful tool for the agriculture industry, the agencies have made multiple attempts to modernize the regulations of biotechnology within the past decade.
Questioning Secretary Perry’s Policy Proposals: Should this be standard practice after his recent “economics lesson”?
Secretary of Energy, Rick Perry, recently released a proposal that would guarantee profits to coal fired power plants that maintain 90 days of fuel on site as protection against the electricity grid failing. Secretary Perry’s suggestion that coal reserves are necessary to protect the electricity grid from failing is unsubstantiated given a recent report by the Rhodium Group which found that over the past five years only .00007% of major power disruptions nation-wide were due to fuel supply problems.
GIPSA Withdraws Final Rule Leaving Small Farmers to Fend for Themselves
In 2016, after years of discussion and debate, the United States Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Grain Inspection, Packers & Stockyards Administration (GIPSA) issued a final rule that would “make it easier for small contract farmers…to sue meat-packing or processing companies that engage in anticompetitive practices." In October 2017, however, the USDA withdrew the rule.
Racetrack Contamination: Kentucky’s Newly-Funded Study and its Effect on Equine Drug Testing.
In October 2017, the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission approved $25,000 worth of funding for a study regarding the effects of contamination on racehorse drug testing. This analytical study will seek to determine the possible levels of substances—both therapeutic and performance-enhancing—found on the racetrack and its surroundings, and will be based on samples collected through 2019
Colorado Residents Plead: Stop Fracking with Our Homes
In a world where it was previously thought that one owned all that was above and all that was below his land, it seems as if Colorado is taking a big step to ensuring that this is no longer true. An obscure Colorado law allows whole neighborhoods to be forced into leasing the minerals beneath their properties as long as one person in the area consents. This concept, known as forced pooling, is instrumental in developing oil and gas resources in Denver’s rapidly growing suburbs
Not-So-Dormant Commerce Clause Transmitting Trouble for Minnesota Agencies?
In essence, the Minnesota statute offers a right of first refusal to incumbent electric transmission owners to construct and maintain federally approved transmission lines. LSP Transmission Holdings has sued, alleging that this statute is anti-competitive and a violation of the Commerce Clause. A few other states have similar laws in place, so the decision made on this case will likely set an important precedent.