Will Congress Warm-Up to HFC Refrigerant Replacements?
By Michael Smith* One of life’s ironies is that the machines that cool our homes, cars, and workplaces rely on chemicals that, when released into the environment, are greenhouse gases thousands of...
View ArticleWill the EPA Appeal Recent Clean Air Act Ruling?
By Timothy Featherston* Overview The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) appears to be preparing itself for a legal battle with the coal industry over the interpretation of § 231(a) of the Clean Air...
View ArticleMedicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act
By Megan Stamm* Overview On October 14, 2016, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services released the final version of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).[1] The new version...
View ArticleCap or Indicator? Is the Texas Education Agency Helping or Hurting our...
By Irma Cruz* The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), originally called the Education for All Handicapped Children Act of 1975, is the federal law governing special education. Congress...
View ArticleInternational Aviation and Climate Change
I. Introduction International aviation presents a serious issue when it comes to climate change. Two percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be attributed to international flights, and the...
View ArticleENDANGERED SPECIES ACT TO THE RESCUE? CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION AND...
By Olivia Bensinger* As we move further into the era of climate change, we often find ourselves looking in unlikely places for tools with which to combat global warming. The Endangered Species Act[1]...
View ArticleFunding Adaptation: Financing Resiliency Through Sea Level Derivatives
By Sevren Gourley* Coastal municipalities are struggling to address the uncertain future risks created by sea level rise. Conventional models of ex ante protection and ex post relief are both too...
View ArticleHydrofluorocarbon Reduction: A Climate Success Story
By David Imhoff* Note: As of the time of writing, it is not clear what effect the incoming administration will have on climate policy and the phase-out of hydrofluorocarbons in the United States. In...
View ArticleThe Federalist Regulations: The EPA and the Rush to Regulate Methane
By Joe Moeller* In May of 2016, the Environmental Protection Agency issued the final rules in a series of three Clean Air Act regulations.[1] The rules’ purpose was to increase monitoring of methane...
View ArticleNavigating with an Ocean Liner: The Clean Water Rule, Trump’s Executive...
Kacy Manahan* I. Introduction The scope of the Clean Water Act’s jurisdiction has been controversial throughout the statute’s history. Reconciling the extent of Congress’ Commerce Clause authority with...
View ArticleArming the Paris Agreement
By Sean Higgins* World leaders and international corporations expressed alarm that President Donald Trump’s administration will threaten the Paris Agreement on climate change.[1] They are concerned...
View ArticleCultural Heritage Protection as Environmental Protection
by Joel Richert* For the first time, the International Criminal Court (ICC) has prosecuted the destruction of cultural heritage. [1] In 2012, the Ansar Eddine, an Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb...
View ArticleBeyond Obama and the Clean Power Plan: Why Trump Will Find It Hard to Save Coal
By Hinh Tran* The Clean Power Plan In August of 2015, President Obama and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rolled out the Clean Power Plan (CPP), a series of federal rules designed to reduce...
View ArticleWater Rights and Rural Development in Washington: the Effect of the Recent...
By Oliva Cares* The recent Washington Supreme Court decision, Whatcom County v. W. Washington Growth Mgmt. Hr’gs Bd.[1](Hirst), appears to carry with it hefty implications for the future of water...
View ArticleConserving the Value of Conservation Easement Valuations
By Joan Campau* In December 2015, President Obama signed the Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act, a section of which expanded and made permanent several tax deductions intended to...
View ArticleThe Future of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Or: Could We Come up...
By Tommy La Voy* In the beginning, there was laissez-faire. But after the Great Depression, cooler heads prevailed, and a network of financial regulations were created. Years passed; the history of the...
View ArticleRepurposing Ecolabels: Consumer Pressure as a Tool to Abate Human Rights...
By Andrew Miller* Introduction In March of 2015, the Associated Press (AP) published AP Investigation: Slaves May Have Caught the Fish You Bought.[1] It was the first in a series of articles the AP...
View ArticleTrump and the Future of Climate Change
By Jason Zhu* Now that Trump is our president, the next question is what he will do to the environment. President Trump famously coined climate change as a “Chinese hoax”[1] and, with a republican...
View ArticleThe SB 32 Scoping Plan Update, Waivers, and ZEVs
By Garrett Lenahan* I. Scoping Plan Background Two prominent pieces of Californian legislation that seek to address climate change are Assembly Bill 32 (“AB 32”) and Senate Bill 32 (“SB 32”). AB 32...
View ArticleTexas Land Ownership
By Alexandra Noll* Texas law creates a unique land ownership structure. Under Texas law, there are two different sets of rights that govern the use of land. The first is the “surface estate,” which...
View Article