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Is Fracking An Inflammatory Word?, Blake Watson
Is Fracking An Inflammatory Word?, Blake Watson
School of Law Faculty Publications
Hydraulic fracturing is a method of oil and gas extraction. It involves the pumping of a mixture of proppants, chemicals, and large amounts of water into wells to exert pressure and fracture rock formations, thereby allowing otherwise “trapped” gas and oil to flow more freely. See Railroad Commission of Texas v. Citizens for a Safe Future and Clean Water, 336 S.W.3d 619, 621 (Tex. 2011) (describing the “fracing” process). With the development of horizontal drilling and more effective lubricants, it is now possible to remove “unconventional” sources of oil and gas located in shale and other dense substrata. Positive …
Making Sense Of Extraterritoriality: Why California’S Progressive Global Warming And Animal Welfare Legislation Does Not Violate The Dormant Commerce Clause, Jeffrey M. Schmitt
Making Sense Of Extraterritoriality: Why California’S Progressive Global Warming And Animal Welfare Legislation Does Not Violate The Dormant Commerce Clause, Jeffrey M. Schmitt
School of Law Faculty Publications
The dormant Commerce Clause’s extraterritoriality doctrine has long baffled courts and legal scholars. Rather than attempt to make sense of the doctrine, most scholars have instead argued that it should be abandoned as unnecessary and unworkable. Such scholarship, however, is of little use to the lower courts struggling with extraterritoriality issues. The federal courts in California, for example, have recently been forced to rule on challenges to California’s landmark carbon emissions and animal welfare legislation. Plaintiffs in these cases argue that California is regulating extraterritorially by telling ethanol producers and farmers in other states how to run their businesses. In …