You’ve Got You Major Questions Mixed Up with My Traditional Judicial Decisionmaking! Or How the Court Learned to Prevent Loan Forgiveness and Further Handcuff the Administrative State Liam Pembroke When the Supreme Court held that the Secretary of Education did not have congressionally delegated authority to forgive individuals up to $20,000 of student debt from federal loan programs, it did more than just guarantee a generation would continue to be saddled with debilitating debt.[i] The Court’s holding in Biden v. Nebraska exemplified a legal two-step that threatens the ability of agencies to ..read more

Can the FTC Help Lower Rents? Brian Hill INTRODUCTION In recent years, with every credit card tap or “buy now click,” rising prices have beleaguered consumers’ bank accounts during a time of high inflation[1] and low consumer satisfaction[2].  In the past year alone, high rents,[3] expensive airfare,[4] and costly trips to the grocery store[5] have all headlined the news. In their recent article “It’s Getting Too Expensive to Have Fun,” Robbie Whelan and Anne Steele of the Wall Street Journal lamented that even “[t]he rising cost of fun is becoming a drag” and found that prices for entert ..read more

Incorporating Carbon Offsets into Agencies’ Sustainability Strategies Joseph Honeycutt In December 2021, President Biden signed Executive Order 14057, directing all federal agencies to adopt emissions reductions goals and measures “in order to achieve a carbon pollution-free electricity sector by 2035 and net-zero emissions economy-wide by no later than 2050.”[i] While ambitious, the order lacks any mention of carbon offsets as a method of achieving its net-zero emissions targets. Carbon offsets are tradeable certificates which represent a reduction of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.[ii] Own ..read more

The Rise of Greenwashing Litigation against Airlines and the Impact of Conscious Consumerism Giovanni Lavoile Recently, there has been a rise of conscious consumerism, a trend defined by buying practices that are “driven by a commitment to making purchasing decisions that have a positive, social, economic, and environmental impact.”[i] This rise had led to more consumers expressing interest in businesses that are conscious in their decisions and factor in the well-being of workers, animals, and the environment as opposed to letting financial profit strictly rule their decisions. This trend is ..read more

Whales, Monkeys, and a River – the Future of Environmental Standing? Nate Lyon A Palila is a small, finch-billed Hawaiian honeycreeper that successfully obtained injunctive relief against the state of Hawaii when it “wing[ed] its way into the federal court as a plaintiff in its own right” in 1988.[i] The Palila IV decision, which seemingly rested on the standing of the Palila,represented a glimpse of how natural beings could have standing in federal court and have lawsuits brought on their behalf to hold the government to its legal obligations to the environment. Sixteen years later, in Cetace ..read more

Conscious Consumerism, Class Actions, and Carbon Offsets Rina Zhang A growing segment of environmentally-minded consumers choose to spend their money on brands and products that signal their commitment to sustainability.”[1] However, as more companies label their products with environmental sustainability claims like “green,” and “carbon neutral”, there are increasing concerns that some of these terms are misleading and misrepresent practices that fall short of consumer perceptions.[2] As more corporations turn towards carbon offsets to reduce their environmental footprint, recent greenwashin ..read more

Extended Producer Responsibility in Ontario: A Model for the U.S.? Wyatt Zimbelman On July1, 2023, municipalities in the Canadian province of Ontario will begin the transition to full producer responsibility for Blue Box (product packaging, paper products, and packaging-like[1] products) recycling.[2] This transition, authorized under the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act, 2016[3], will move the province to a regulatory framework in which producers[4] are operationally and financially responsible for end-of-life management of their designated products and packaging.[5] This framework ..read more

Transfer of Development Rights in Urban-Rural Settings: A Conservation and Pro-Housing Strategy for Michigan Jessie Williams By “moving” development rights from preserved land parcels to provide density increases elsewhere, transfer of development rights (“TDR”) programs combat urban sprawl and preserve natural and agricultural open space, while incentivizing urban planning best practices such as increased housing density and urban infill.[1] TDR programs are voluntary, allowing agricultural landowners to gain an economic windfall by selling rights to develop their land, while allowing for mo ..read more

Mifepristone & the FDA Post-Dobbs: States Sue & Potential Preemption Sara Shapiro Introduction Last summer, after an unprecedented leak leading to an eruption of nationwide protests,[1] the United States Supreme Court overruled Roe v. Wade,[2] Planned Parenthood of Southeastern Pennsylvania v. Casey,[3] and their progeny in its bombshell Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health[4]ruling. Shortly thereafter, numerous previously-unconstitutional state laws took effect, some of which totally outlawed—and others of which substantially restricted—legal access to abortion.[5] While litigation has ma ..read more

The Role of Electric Vehicles in Michigan Eric A. Shalloway In the state of Michigan, gas taxes contribute funds to improve roads and infrastructure, but between 2019-2021 it is estimated that there was a $50 million decrease in revenue due to electric vehicle owners not paying the tax.[1] The Michigan County Road Association explained that approximately 840 miles of roads would not be resurfaced annually, due to the loss of revenue.[2] Motor vehicles[3] have a role in the Michigan economy, and new electric vehicle manufacturing sites are increasing in the state.[4] The gas tax is increasing f ..read more