Blog by: Matthew Pakkala
In this blog, 3L staffer Matthew Pakkala discusses the ongoing crisis facing the Florida manatees. He briefly introduces the main threat—algae blooms—and details the situation unfolding in the Indian River Lagoon. Pakkala advocates for the Florida manatee to be reclassified as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act of 1973.
Blog By: Christian T. Deeter
In his blog, 3L Staffer Christian Deeter argues that the Fifth Circuit should hold the Horseracing Integrity and Safety Act (HISA) constitutional because it does not violate the non-delegation and anti-commandeering doctrines. The amended version of HISA adequately reformed the Authority, making it sufficiently subordinate to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). Deeter supports his opinion with an analysis of the Fifth and Sixth Circuit’s recent rulings.
Blog By: Jose Herrera
In this blog, 3L Staffer Jose Herrera examines the extensive consequences of the booming avocado industry in Michoacán, Mexico. Herrera highlights environmental and social concerns that result from deforestation and corruption and advocates for regulatory reforms to address environmental degradation and safeguard community well-being.
Blog By: Sydney LaRue
The cruise ship industry has a history of harming the environment but has recently implemented energy-efficient technology to limit the amount of greenhouse gases and other waste produced by cruise liners. In this blog, 3L Staffer Sydney LaRue argues that these actions are not enough and that increased regulations on cruise ships are the answer to decreasing the harm cruise liners have on the environment.
Blog By: Nathaniel Richey
In this blog, 3L Staffer Nathaniel Richey discusses how the patent system has the potential to hinder innovation in the agricultural industry. Richey argues in favor of a statutory research exemption from infringement of plant utility patents, drawing parallels with the statutory research exemption applicable to pharmaceuticals and medical devices under the Hatch-Waxman Act.
Citizens of Pavillion, Wyoming, started to notice a bad taste and smell in their water. Methanol, a toxic chemical, was found in their water from fracking waste. 2L staffer Gracie Sandlin discusses how fracking companies are not required to disclose the chemical injected into the ground due to trade secrets, but is that for the best? Sandlin advocates that these chemicals should not be trade secrets, discusses what another state is doing, and hopes Wyoming will soon follow.
While President Biden’s recent executive order regarding the Keystone Pipeline may seem like a major win for its opponents, the battle is far from over. In this piece, 3L staffer Taygan Mullins discusses the impact of this decision and asserts that this may only be a temporary victory for those supporting the order.
While low gas prices are usually looked at gratefully, COVID-19 has changed societal interactions and diminished the need for oil as quarantining mitigates the need to drive. However, as oil production continues around the world and is met with depleted demand, big oil companies are falling on hard times leading them to seek assistance in the form of a government bailout.
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.
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
