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LPE Blog

Weekly Roundup: June 16, 2023

Savannah Cox, John Hogan Morris, Zac J. Taylor on the networked climate authority of credit rating agencies, Madison Condon on how mainstream economic climate models underestimate the damage from climate change, and Duncan Kennedy, Karl Klare, and Michael Turk on how to empower tenant organizing. Plus, the first LPE NYC event, an extension to apply to. . .

A Wagner Act for Tenant Unions

One often overlooked reason for the current rental housing crisis is the imbalance in bargaining power between landlords and tenants. To address this imbalance, Duncan Kennedy, Karl Klare, and Michael Turk argue that we must empower tenant organizing and sketch the architecture of a legislative package that would entitle tenants to organize into unions with. . .

Weekly Roundup: June 9, 2023

Larry Lohmann on the misguided logic of carbon offsets, William Boyd on the privatized model of renewable energy development, and Shelley Welton on the atomized approach to net-zero. Plus, Luke Herrine at the nexus of antitrust and consumer protection, Jenny Hunter on Glacier Northwest, Zachary Carter on Isabella “Don’t Call it a Comeback” Weber,. . .

Renewable Power: Who Will Own the Clean Energy Future?

The IRA promises to pump billions of dollars into clean energy infrastructure, primarily though tax equity financing. This approach, despite its merits, all but guarantees that our clean energy future will be dominated by incumbent private actors, namely large financial institutions and private developers, who will capture the benefits of abundant low-cost. . .

Offset Frontiers, Fossil Capitalism and the Law

The very idea of “offsetting” emissions requires the legal creation – and exploitation – of new sacrifice zones. Predictably, this approach has been a disaster for the environment. Less noticed, however, is the extent to which offsetting has warped the entire aim of environmental law.

Weekly Roundup: June 2, 2023

Claire Dunning on the origins of the non-profit industrial complex, Lisa Knox, Hamid Yazdan Panah, and Serafin Andrade Lopez on organizing workers in California’s immigrant detention centers, and Noah Zatz on the pathways to solidarity between organized labor and the fight against mass incarceration. Plus, an LPE 101 event at LSA, Simon Torracinta on. . .

From Work in Prison to Carcerality at Work

How might organized labor be engaged in ending mass incarceration? One approach is to emphasize how carceral labor is exploited as a substitute for rights-bearing “free labor.” But the mere threat of substitution does not ensure solidarity. A more promising avenue is to consider how carcerality itself extends into so-called “free” labor. . .

Strategic Lessons from Abolitionist Labor Struggle In Immigration Detention

Since last summer, immigrants detained in California’s Mesa Verde and Golden State Annex detention centers have been on strike, demanding fair treatment as workers. Meanwhile, legal advocates have engaged in strategic policy campaigns and wage-and-hour litigation to support the strike from the outside. This partnership offers a valuable model for how. . .

The Origins of the Nonprofit Industrial Complex

Despite receiving more revenue from the U.S. government than from private donors, the nonprofit sector is often cast as an independent realm that stands apart from both state and market. This picture is not merely misleading, but dangerous, as it naturalizes the idea that the needs of certain citizens are best met by private supplement, rather than by. . .

Weekly Roundup: May 26, 2023

Martha McCluskey on tax policy and climate change, Han Lu and Bernard Callegari on fighting back against the exploitation of formerly incarcerated workers, and Andrew Ross and Aiyuba Thomas on the past, present, and future of the prisoners’ rights movement in Alabama. Plus, a new issue of the JLPE, a call for abstracts on courts and politics, a. . .