Law

Praise for a New York Times Article on Natural Gas Fracking (or, How Property Rights Help Mitigate Potential Environmental Harms)

Michael Giberson I’m writing in praise of a New York Times article on natural gas fracking. Yes, really! Even more surprising, I’m writing in praise of a New York Times on fracking written by Ian Urbina. Yes, really! What is this marvel, you ask? I answer, “Rush to Drill for Natural Gas Creates Conflicts With Mortgages.” What is so …

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A Coasian Look at Pesticide and Genetic Drift

Michael Giberson A few weeks back Lynne drew attention to an interesting property dispute between neighboring farmers in Minnesota, currently the subject of legal action (see news summary here, related court decision here). In brief, the issue is pesticide drift from conventionally farmed crops onto a neighboring organic farm, and whether the organic farm can …

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On the Obligations of Income-Earners and Property-Owners to Pay Taxes

Michael Giberson Perhaps you’ve seen the video of Elizabeth Warren, hoping to be elected to the U.S. Senate from Massachusetts, in which she declaims that since roads and police and fire protection are funded through taxes, people have no real claim to their income or wealth against a government that wants to take it. After …

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Passage of Wisconsin’s Anti-price Gouging Bill Boosted by President Bush’s Public Remarks

Michael Giberson Wisconsin didn’t have an anti-price gouging law in 2001, so the state government’s response to post-9/11 reports of gasoline price gouging was pretty limited. While the Wisconsin governor called for an investigation of gasoline retailers, for all practical purposes the investigation was limited to fighting collusion in price setting and instances in which stations …

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Horwitz Reminds Us That Classical Liberalism Insists Governments Treat Citizens As Equal Before the Law

Michael Giberson Steve Horwitz argues that Classical Liberals have become so focused on the size and reach of government that they have lost touch with another important Classical Liberal project: promoting equality before the law. Part of the problem today is that an increasing number of libertarians lean toward the anarchist position.  When one’s whole …

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Science, Law, and Regulation of Fracking for Natural Gas in the Marcellus Shale

Michael Giberson The current issue of the Energy Law Journal includes an article examining the public policy history surrounding the use of hydraulic fracturing to develop natural gas in Pennsylvania and New York. The article, “Science and the Reasonable Development of Marcellus Shale Natural Gas Resources in Pennsylvania and New York,” is by attorneys Lynn Kerr McKay, Ralph …

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Sure, Congress Can Regulate Light Bulbs That Travel in Interstate Commerce, but a “Made in Texas, Stayed in Texas” Bulb…?

Michael Giberson The Texas state legislature has passed a bill that affirms that a light bulb manufactured in Texas of materials predominantly from within Texas and sold for use within Texas would not be subject to federal law or regulation under the authority of the U.S. Congress to regulate interstate commerce. The bill further would commit the state Attorney …

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Do Anti-price Gouging Laws Help the Victims of Natural Disaster?

Michael Giberson At the LegalMatch Law Blog, Sonya Ziaja editorializes in favor of laws against price gouging: Natural forces are blind to what they destroy. People aren’t. In the past month, tornadoes and flooding in the South and Midwest left behind crippled lives, destroyed homes, and eviscerated infrastructure. Now as the victims of the tornadoes …

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Billionaire Boone Pickens Can’t Understand Why the Billionaire Koch Brothers Don’t Support the Slimmed Pickens Plan

Michael Giberson Koch Industries and various groups supported by the Koch brothers’ political donations are opposed the Boone Picken’s plan to provide government subsidies to anyone who makes or buys natural gas power vehicles. The position seems consistent with the Koch’s generally libertarian policy outlook, though the company is involved in the natural gas industry …

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