Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88, No. 2 (2009)
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Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.581-620 : Implementing Corporate Climate Change Responsibility: Possible State Legislative and SEC Responses to Climate Change Through Corporate Law Reform(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Torbitt, AlisonIn Part I, this Comment explores a recent corporate perspective termed climate change responsibility, which examines the connection between corporations and climate change, and the litigation risks faced by businesses that choose the responsible alternative. Building on this baseline, this Comment examines two potential state legislative methods to allow for climate change disclosure. First, Part II investigates a strategy of mandatory state corporate law modification requiring detailed greenhouse gas emissions disclosure and mitigation that is unlikely to be passed due to a race to the bottom. Part III then surveys a policy of optional state modification of authorization and constituency provisions, including a successfully passed Oregon model, which implements general support for increased environmental responsibility that, while optional, is more likely to be enacted. Moving to federal law, Part IV looks at the drafting and implementation of guidelines detailing both the scope and form for greenhouse gas emissions disclosures by the SEC to reinterpret the existing disclosure requirements in light of climate change responsibility.Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.547-580 : Civilizing Society: The Need for a Carbon Tax in Light of Recent Changes to U.S. Energy Taxation Policy(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Kwak, Daniel E.This Comment examines the current federal energy tax policy as amended by the recent legislation. Additionally, by comparing and contrasting the federal policy with tax policies adopted by other governments, this Comment both suggests additional reforms in the current policy and argues for the passage of a carbon tax. Part I of this Comment provides a background and overview of the history of energy tax policy in the United States. Part II discusses recent legislative changes to the current policy. Parts III and IV compare facets of the energy tax policies adopted by Oregon and countries in Europe. Finally, Part V suggests changes to the new legislation and argues for the introduction of a carbon tax to help offset the increased federal deficit resulting from the new legislation’s high price tag.Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.515-546 : Read the Fine Print: A Critical Look at Oregon’s Noncompete and Nonsolicitation Agreement Laws(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Gould, Erin E.This Comment analyzes the recently enacted noncompete agreement statute and its potential implications and problems. In this effort, Parts I and II both explore how Oregon’s statute compares to other state statutes in restricting noncompete and nonsolicitation agreements and show how courts have interpreted statutes in Oregon and in some other states that govern both types of agreements. Part III attempts to uncover how the Oregon legislature went about creating this perplexing statute by looking at the legislative history leading up to the passage of Senate Bill 248. Next, Part IV explores some potential effects the statute may have on employees and employers and implications it may have in the courts. Finally, Part V suggests alternative statutory language that the legislature ought to consider to avoid some of the potential problems described in this Comment.Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.491-514 : Race to the Left: A Legislator’s Guide to Greening a Corporate Code(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Sneirson, Judd F.This Article proceeds as follows. Part I recounts previous bouts of interstate competition for corporate charters and notes the “race-tothe- bottom” and “race-to-the-top” theories that purport to explain their results. Part I then describes the current movement toward green or sustainable business practices, notes the compatibility of these practices with current corporate law, and posits that the trend will trigger a new race among states to attract corporate charters—not to the bottom nor to the top but rather “to the left.”2 Part II opens with a description of Oregon’s recent efforts to make its corporate law more amenable to green businesses, and then the Article proposes a comprehensive agenda for greening a state’s corporate code.Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.405-490 : Recovery of a Lost Decade (or Is It Three?): Developing the Capacity in Government Necessary to Reduce Carbon Emissions and Administer Energy Markets(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Mihaly, Marc B.This Article first examines the effort to control carbon emissions, discussing the governmental efforts that will be necessary to administer either a carbon tax or cap-and-trade regime. This Article then examines the need for government regulation in the electricity sector as a whole, focusing on both the nation’s experimentation with markets, specifically the wholesale electricity market, and the move toward restructuring in many statesItem Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p. 355-404 : Back to the Future: Recommendations and Predictions for Greener Tax Policy(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Mann, Roberta F.This Article addresses both direct and indirect connections between tax policy and carbon emissions. Any discussion of tax policy’s impact on the environment must begin with a review of how the Code can be used to encourage behavior. Accordingly, this Article begins with a brief discussion of tax expenditures. The Article then reviews tax policy recommendations in the following areas: (1) housing, (2) transportation, (3) energy and conservation incentives, and (4) carbon pricing, including carbon sequestration. For each area, I compare past recommendations to actual changes in tax policy and make predictions about coming changes to tax policy and how those changes may affect carbon emissions.Item Open Access Oregon Law Review : Vol. 88 No. 2, p.343-355 : Speech(University of Oregon Law School, 2009) Floyd, Nancy