In a cyclical industry such as Africa’s mining sector, robust mining laws are required to discourage pollution by mining companies and deter them from plundering with relative impunity. These concerns arise because many of the world’s richest natural resource reserves are located in Africa.[1] The continent’s importance as a source of energy is widely recognized.[2] Indeed, to this day, Africa generally remains the world’s premier producer of mineral commodities.[3] A traditional role as supplier of natural resources, however, has come at a price.[4]International exploitation of these natural resources, coupled with a dearth of strong local institutions and legal frameworks, have given way to unrestrained excavation at the expense of local interests.[5]
The United States is suffering from an opioid epidemic of catastrophic proportions[1]and a huge federal and state prison population.[2] This Note proposes to bring some relief to this juncture of American suffering. The American prison system focuses heavily on the punitive nature of punishment.[3] Prisoners affected by opiate addiction make this stance more distinct; a large number are forced to experience the effects of opiate withdrawal without being able to seek the medical help that would be available to non-incarcerated citizens.[4] Prisoners are also likely to overdose when they are released from prison; a North Carolina study established that prisoners were 74 times more likely to overdose within 2 weeks or release when compared to the general population.[5] These problems can be fixed by providing Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) to the prison population.[6]
Will the death of J50 (Scarlett), an orca in the southern resident population, be in vain or will efforts to save the southern resident orca population succeed? The Puget Sound’s southern resident population has reached an alarming all-time low.[1]Three pods make up the population: J, K, and L.[2]The southern resident’s range is wide with pods travelling to the San Juan Islands during the summer months and the inland waterways of the Puget Sound in the fall.[3]The use of ferries and tourism took off on the Puget Sound.[4]This increased human activity on the Puget Sound has drastically depleted the southern resident population and their food source.[5]
Carved out by glaciers, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness (BWCAW) houses 1,500 miles of canoe routes, 2,200 designated campsites, and more than 1,000 lakes and streams.[1]The glaciers left behind cliffs, canyons, rolling hills, souring rock formations, sandy beaches, and rocky shores.[2]In the Superior National Forest, more than 1 million acres of Minnesota is protected under the Wilderness Act of 1964,[3]and the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness Act of 1978.[4]Signing the Wilderness Act, Lyndon B. Johnson preserved the BWCAW as part of the National Wilderness Preservation System.[5]The BWCAW is one of the most visited public land areas in the United States.[6]More than 200,000 people visit this pristine wild area annually.[7]
The United States’ population consumes over 305 billion gallons of water daily.[1] This amount of water would fill 461,944 Olympic swimming pools.[2] At this rate of consumption, 40 out of 50 states will face water shortages within the next decade.[3]With the growth of the United States population, particularly growth focused in coastal cities, comes increased pressure on aquifers.[4] In addition, climate change is degrading aquifers.[5] Increased pressure on aquifers coupled with the effects of climate change causes a number of issues for groundwater aquifers, one of them being saltwater intrusion.[6]
The United Nation’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that inundated coastlines, severe food shortages, increased poverty, intensified wildfires and droughts, and mass die-offs of coral reefs loom in the near future.[1]In early October, the IPCC issued a special report examining the “impacts of global warming of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels.”[2]The report found that the planet will begin experiencing the detrimental effects of climate change decades sooner than previously expected.[3]It asserts that governments around the world must make drastic changes to address greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions to avoid such severe impacts.[4]In the United States—the world’s second largest emitter of GHG emissions—transportation now constitutes the single largest source of GHG emissions.[5]These findings show that the transportation sector constitutes an ideal candidate for more stringent emission standards.
In 2006, the “Beepocalypse” hit Hanyuan county of China’s Sichuan province, threatening the production of the area’s primary economic resource, pears.[1] The use of pesticides had decimated the area’s native bee population.[2] To keep their trees producing pears, the farmers turned to a new pollinator—humans.[3]This event is the worst case scenario for an area dependent on pollinators.[4] Yet, the spotlight seemed to shift directly to the managed honey bees, Apis mellifera, and their demise.[5]The honey bee arrived in the United States in the 1600s.[6] However, many other pollinators lived—and still live—in the United States.[7] Wild bees,[8]butterflies,[9]birds,[10]bats,[11]moths,[12]flies,[13]beetles,[14]wasps,[15] and ants[16]represent pollinators native to the United States[17]—versus non-native, and potentially invasive, pollinators.
Ownership is a tricky thing, especially when ownership causes displacement. The law is full of legal fictions imperfectly strung together to try and balance competing ownership interests.[1]Gentrification weaves together legal ownership,[2]personal ownership,[3]and historical ownership[4]—making the problems associated with gentrification tangled, tightly wound, and tricky. Often home ownership, specifically whoowns the homes in a neighborhood, is where the gentrification debate takes place.[5]However, the gentrification knot cannot be untangled by only looking at one thread. Gentrification law and policy must consider the economic factors beyond home ownership to achieve fair, just, and equitable community revitalization.
On July 12, 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) at the Hague issued its Final Decision on the dispute between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of the Philippines.[1] The Final Decision—a complicated answer written in 500 pages—can be distilled into four major points: (1) China has no historic rights over the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea[2]; (2) None of Spratly Islands generates its own exclusive economic zone (EEZ)[3]; (3) China violated the Philippines’ rights within the Philippine EEZ by interfering with the Philippines’ activities in the area[4]; and (4) China severely damaged the coral reef environment and violated its obligation to preserve the environment under the UNCLOS.[5]
David Balderramas is a blue-collar steel worker in Texas by day and a handyman by night.[1] Like many Americans, he works two jobs to provide for his family.[2] David and his wife came to the United States in 1956 for a better life and to start a family.[3] They became legal permanent residents and regular taxpayers.[4] Unfortunately, David used to be an alcoholic and was convicted for driving while intoxicated.[5] After serving time for his crime, in 1998, Immigration and Naturalization Services arrested David at his home and soon after began the deportation process.[6] If the United States deports David, he will leave his two children, both U.S. citizens, and his diabetic wife to fend for themselves.[7]
Submissions The Vermont Law Review continually seeks articles, commentaries, essays, and book reviews on any subject concerning recent developments in state, federal, Native American, or international law.
