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 Shortly after, the legislature rescinded the rule, which Short argues was the right decision because of the requirement's uncertainty in enforcement and effectiveness, as well as the detriment to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.
A Sixth Circuit case alleged that Kentucky Utilities violated the Clean Water Act and the Resources Conservation and Recovery Act. In 2018 the suit was dismissed due to Kentucky Utilities having agreed to submit a remedial action plan. This plan is currently pending, but there are some issues as some believe the Clean Water Act does not relate to groundwater. Kyle Ruschell is hoping this case could clarify the Clean Water Act.
The U.S. Department of the Interior dove into 2018 with a proposal to open roughly the entire U.S. Outer Continental Shelf (hereinafter “OCS”) for potential oil and gas lease sales. The proposal is in furtherance of the National Outer Continental Shelf Oil and Gas Leasing Program (hereinafter “National OSC Program”). The National OCS Program currently preserves ninety-four percent of the total OCS acreage by prohibiting any oil and gas exploration, or development therein. However, the January proposal made by U.S. Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, would open ninety-percent of the total OCS acreage for potential offshore drilling—almost a complete conversion from closed to exposed.
After three months to consider the USITC’s submission, President Trump elected to implement a tariff-quota on solar cell imports. Following the President’s announcement, stocks in U.S. based companies that could benefit as a result of the tariff imposition on solar equipment experienced an aggressive increase. Conversely, the loss of twenty-three thousand jobs and the delay or elimination of billion-dollar investments seems to be probable.
On Monday, December 4, 2017, President Trump signed presidential proclamations to shrink both the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monuments, resulting in the largest reduction of public-lands protection in the history of our nation. While some have supported the decision, there are many others who have strongly opposed it, bringing an unexplored legal question into the limelight: Does the 1906 Antiquities Act give the president the power to modify or eliminate national monuments, as well as designate?
EQT Corporation is planning to build the Mountain Valley Pipeline (MVP), in a first-time joint venture with four other gas companies, which will cut through the Blue Ridge Mountains in West Virginia and Virginia. The controversy surrounding the project, slated to break ground in February 2018, is in full swing.At the heart of the controversy, however, is a private company using the federal power of eminent domain to take away private landowners’ property for a pipeline that many argue is not even needed.
On January 16, 2018, the Office of the State Budget Director in Kentucky published the Executive Budget for the 2018–2020 fiscal years. Included in the budget is the elimination of seventy state-funded programs, one of which is Direct Aid to Kentucky’s Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs). Rowlett says that Direct Aid is necessary to fund district initiatives like technical assistance to landowners with Agricultural Water Quality Plans, funding for Envirothon teams, and other educational endeavors that help fulfill the districts’ conservation mission.
It is not often that a criminal appeal can change the face of American environmental law and change the jurisdiction of major environmental legislation. This is why anyone concerned with ecological diversity or clean water ought to be watching closely for the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision in United States v. Hughes. In particular, it may greatly decrease the regulatory scope of the Clean Water Act, which controls the discharge of pollutants into the “navigable waters” of the United States.
