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Full-Text Articles in Law
An Argument For A Vicarious Liability Standard For Agricultural Employers And Associations For The Acts Of Contractee Farm Labor Contractors: An Addition To The Migrant And Seasonal Agricultural Worker’S Protection Act Of 1983, Andrew Leibfried
Andrew Leibfried
Much of the federal law that has been passed to protect seasonal and migrant agricultural workers has been circumvented by Agricultural Employers and Associations who contract out their labor, and thus, many of their obligations to Farm Labor Contractors. Because these Farm Labor Contractors are considered independent contractors, seasonal and migrant agricultural laborers are required to enforce their rights under federal law against these contractors who can be either transient or judgment proof, while the Agricultural Employer or Association who hired the contractor escapes liability entirely. The focus of this paper is to present the case for a different legal …
The Legal Profession’S Critical Role In Systems-Level Bioenergy Decision-Making, Jody M. Endres
The Legal Profession’S Critical Role In Systems-Level Bioenergy Decision-Making, Jody M. Endres
Jody M. Endres
Mounting resource scarcity confronts policymakers to make decisions based on predictions of complex system behavior under conditions of great uncertainty. Nowhere is this more evident than in bioenergy policy, which relies heavily on modeling to determine biofuels’ effects on complex climate, food and natural systems. This article provides a primer on models’ inner workings to facilitate engagement by the legal field so critical in building and applying models, and remedying them when they fail. Any conceptual model cannot predict future reality with accuracy absent accounting for regulatory and litigatory scenarios that only the legal discipline can assess fully. Administrative law …
Frayed Seams In The "Patchwork Quilt" Of American Federalism: An Empirical Analysis Of Invasive Plant Species Regulation, A. Bryan Endres, James S.N. Mccubbins, Lauren D. Quinn, Jacob N. Barney
Frayed Seams In The "Patchwork Quilt" Of American Federalism: An Empirical Analysis Of Invasive Plant Species Regulation, A. Bryan Endres, James S.N. Mccubbins, Lauren D. Quinn, Jacob N. Barney
A. Bryan Endres
Increased demand for biomass feedstocks to meet renewable energy mandates will require development of newer, bigger and better plant resources. Ideal biomass traits–fast growth and ability to outcompete local vegetation, prolific seed production, adaptability to a variety of soil and climatic conditions, and resistance to pests and diseases–also typify invasive flora. Next-generation biofuel feedstocks may be more productive and profitable at the individual farm level, but also may pose a greater risk of becoming invasive, thereby damaging the broader ecosystem and the economy. Accordingly, the agronomist’s search for yield maximizing biofuel crops for deployment into novel agricultural production systems and …
Building Bio-Based Supply Chains: Theoretical Perspectives On Innovative Contract Design, A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres, Jeremy J. Stoller
Building Bio-Based Supply Chains: Theoretical Perspectives On Innovative Contract Design, A. Bryan Endres, Jody M. Endres, Jeremy J. Stoller
A. Bryan Endres
By 2030, the United States will consume over 300 million tons of forest and agricultural feedstocks for energy production. The supply chain necessary to provide unprecedented quantities of new “bioenergy crops,” however, is fraught with uncertainty. The vertically integrated model the nascent sector currently uses may have limited opportunity for expansion to meet renewable energy mandates. A hybrid structure is likely to emerge as the industry evolves, in which end-users closely cooperate with a large number of heterogeneous producers through long-term contracting rather than as direct owners or operators of biomass farms. This “vertically coordinated” industry model is dependent on …
Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Jonathan M Specht
In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …
Raising Cane: Cuban Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Raising Cane: Cuban Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Jonathan M Specht
In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …
Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Raising Cane: Sugar Sugarcane Ethanol’S Economic And Environmental Effects On The United States, Jonathan M. Specht
Jonathan M Specht
In the coming decades the United States will need to change its energy policy to face two enormous challenges: adjusting to peak oil (declining petroleum production output), and halting the advance of climate change. Liquid biofuels — made from renewable, biologically-based sources of energy, rather than finite and climate change-inducing fossil fuels — will be an important component of any strategy to deal with the twin challenges of peak oil and climate change. While the United States has encouraged the production of biofuels in recent decades, the domestic ethanol industry, which is almost entirely corn-based, has a number of major …
Forging Towards Coexistence, Laurie J. Beyranevand
Forging Towards Coexistence, Laurie J. Beyranevand
Laurie J Beyranevand
Abstract: For better or worse, the United States has demonstrated a long history of support for agricultural biotechnology. Justified as necessary to meet the growing demands of our nation’s food demand, federal policies addressing genetic engineering have attempted to balance of set of competing interests to ensure health and safety while also encouraging further innovation and development of technology. The unfortunate effects of these policies are suffered disproportionately by organic and non-GE farmers, as there has been little consideration of how the products of genetic engineering impact this sector. In the midst of regulating biotechnology, the federal government has lost …
Exhausted By Exhaustion? A Solution To The Seed Patent Problem, Katie M. Scholz
Exhausted By Exhaustion? A Solution To The Seed Patent Problem, Katie M. Scholz
Katie M. Scholz
Strong intellectual property protection drives economies in both the developed and developing worlds. But, when the breadth of intellectual property rights stretches too far, the consequences ripple throughout society. Today, the United States comes down too strongly on the side of protecting intellectual property rights in genetically modified crops, consistently extending the rights of their creators against the iconic American farmer. The allowance of utility patents on self-replicating technology, and subsequent expansion of patent rights has created a host of problems from innocent infringers to reversal of tradition. This paper looks at the various international approaches to seed patent protection …
Necessity Is The Mother, But Protection May Not Be The Father Of Invention: The Limited Effect Of Intellectual Property Regimes On Agricultural Innovation, A. Bryan Endres, Carly E. Giffin
Necessity Is The Mother, But Protection May Not Be The Father Of Invention: The Limited Effect Of Intellectual Property Regimes On Agricultural Innovation, A. Bryan Endres, Carly E. Giffin
A. Bryan Endres
Standard innovation theory assumes that intellectual property protection is a prerequisite to the development of technological advances. Stretching back to the writing of the Constitution, a strong intellectual property system, comprised of both laws that establish intellectual property protection and a judicial or other adjudicative system to enforce the property right, has been considered necessary to stimulate innovation for the benefit of society. While not directly challenging this traditionally held belief, the authors used empirical data to test the assumption in the context of agriculture. This paper analyzed twenty years of agricultural production data from Argentina, Brazil, China, India, and …
Energy (In)Efficiency In The Local Food Movement: Food For Thought, Lauren B. Kaplin
Energy (In)Efficiency In The Local Food Movement: Food For Thought, Lauren B. Kaplin
Lauren Kaplin
“Eating local” is a growing trend in the American food system, with environmentalists and foodies alike advocating for shorter food transportation distances from farm to table (the average in the United States is about 1,500 miles ). Not only have local food systems gained followers through farmer’s markets, locally sourced restaurants, and community supported agriculture (“CSA”) enterprises, but the locavore trend has begun to gain momentum on Capitol Hill as well: various federal and state programs support local food initiatives, the United States Department of Agriculture (the “USDA”) has published materials considering the impact of going local, and the Obamas …
The Case For A Global Treaty On Soil Conservation, Sustainable Farming, And The Preservation Of Agrarian Culture, Nicholas A. Fromherz
The Case For A Global Treaty On Soil Conservation, Sustainable Farming, And The Preservation Of Agrarian Culture, Nicholas A. Fromherz
Nicholas A Fromherz
Soil is the foundation of life, yet we have all but ignored it in conservation efforts and legal reforms. Right under our noses, we are losing topsoil at rates that far outpace nature’s ability to keep up. Erosion, salinization, desertification, nutrient depletion, contamination—these and other threats have conspired to take away the land that feeds us. But they have done so largely at our own command. Like most environmental crises, human decisions have played a critical role in the degradation of Earth’s soils. To remedy this situation—or at least get the ball moving in that direction—I argue that we need …