Blog By: Antonio C. Ellzey
In this Blog, 3L Staffer Antonio C. Ellzey discusses the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the cannabis industry, particularly the impact of Section 280E of the Internal Revenue Code, which limits deductions for businesses engaged in the cannabis trade due to federal prohibition. Ellzey discusses the potential benefits of rescheduling cannabis from Schedule I to Schedule III, which he argues would alleviate financial burdens on cannabis businesses, enhance safety, and stimulate economic growth.
Blog By: Yuha Jung
In this Blog, outgoing 3L Staffer Yuha Jung explores two recent youth climate cases, one resolved in Montana (Held v. State) and another ongoing in California (Genesis v. EPA), emphasizing their implications for future climate litigation. Jung contends that youth-led climate lawsuits will ultimately contribute positively to safeguarding a clean and healthy climate for future generations.
Blog By: Camille Camp
In this blog, 2L Staffer Camille Camp discusses the threat black vultures pose to the livestock industry and the proposed bill aimed at assisting livestock producers. Additionally, she highlights the essential ecological function served by black vultures and stresses the importance of finding a sustainable solution that both addresses the threat to livestock and preserves the black vulture population.
Blog By: Daniel Martell
In his blog, Vol. 17 Executive Editor Daniel Martell reports on a barrier in the transition to clean energy: local opposition to solar projects in rural communities. While opposition groups have delayed and derailed solar projects in the past, Martell argues that there are steps that solar farm developers can take to the conflict and cost that come with public opposition to their energy projects.
Blog By: Daniel Short
2L Staffer Daniel Short discusses the Kentucky legislature's decision to create an acreage requirement for hunting and fishing licenses, exempt private landowners. Shortly after, the legislature rescinded the rule, which Short argues was the right decision because of the requirement's uncertainty in enforcement and effectiveness, as well as the detriment to resident outdoorsmen.
In the last thirty years, the average age of U.S. farmers has grown from 50.5 years to 58.3 years. Between 2007 and 2012, the number of farm operators fell by 90,000. America’s farmers are an economic asset in stimulating our rural economies and putting food on our tables. However, as American farmers retire, there is a concern that few emerging farmers will replace them.
When Monsanto introduced dicamba-resistant soybeans for the first time, 200 dicamba spraying complaints were lodged in Missouri, with a host of aggravation for farmers, businessmen, and scientists on both sides of the issues. In fact, —a dicamba dispute between two Arkansas farmers even led to one farmer’s death and a murder indictment for the other. Farmers from Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas have been deemed eligible to join a class-action lawsuit against Monsanto because of the alleged dicamba drift damage suffered byto their crops.
While some in Washington have rejected the idea of mass deportation, the President has continued to defer his decision for undocumented immigrants until after the border is secured. Should the President continue this trend of fulfilling campaign promises by implementing a mass-deportation styled immigration crackdown, it would surely spell disaster. One issue that should raise concerns across ideological-lines, is the impact that mass deportations would have on the domestic agricultural economy of the United States.
The human population is expected to grow to 9.7 billion by 2050, and at that size, to meet demand, food production must increase by 70%. Many argue, without a sustainable meat alternative that meat consumption will outpace production, causing meat to become scarce instead of the commodity it is now.
Since President Donald Trump has been in office, one of his main objectives has been to reform the North American Free Trade Agreement. President Trump has labeled the agreement “the worst deal ever made in the history of the world.” Although there is no definite way of determining the future of NAFTA, there is fear that President
Utah’s Agricultural Operation Interference statute, or “ag-gag law” as it is often called, is intended to deter animal activists from being able to take videos of animal cruelty and abuse. Recently, a federal district judge in Utah struck down this law, agreeing with activist Plaintiffs that it violated their First Amendment right to free speech. This was the second time that a state’s Ag-Gag law has been held unconstitutional, thus creating a stronger precedent for other states to follow suit.
For those not well versed in science jargon, CRISPR-Cas is a genome-editing technology that allows the user to precisely cut out sections of DNA. Not surprisingly, scientific technology is moving faster than the gears of the political process can turn. The FDA and the USDA have realized that CRISPR is coming whether they are ready or not. But the agencies are going different directions on whether to regulate the organisms that undergo CRISPR alterations.
Farmers of the twenty-first century depend on agricultural equipment outfitted with computer systems and state-of-the-art software. The proliferation of high-tech farm equipment in recent years not only increased average yields in light of unreliable market prices, but it also distorted traditional notions of ownership.
