Why San Francisco’s Lawsuit Should Be a Turning Point in the Regulation of Ultra-Processed Foods

Ultra-processed foods are causing chronic health issues in Americans. The FDA regulates 80% of food products in the United States, yet there is little regulation regarding ultra-processed foods. Cities across the U.S. are taking their own steps towards regulation in order to protect their residents. San Francisco’s recent lawsuit marks an important step forward in regulating ultra-processed foods here in the United States. This lawsuit could be a turning point in regulation for the U.S., as it highlights the dangers of ultra-processed foods, the effects lackluster regulation has on communities, and how transparency can create a healthy step forward for Americans.

Prediction Markets Success Face a Rude Awakening from the Event Contract Enforcement Act

In just over a year, prediction markets have taken the United States exchange by storm. From betting on who will win the 2024 presidential election, to whether certain celebrities will attend the Superbowl, on prediction markets one can wagerwhether or not just about anything will occur. However, due to growing concerns of national security, public safety, and insider trading, a new bill has been introduced in the House of Representatives. The Event Contract Enforcement Act(ECEA) would extend the power previously granted to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and require the CFTC to ban certain event contracts. If passed, the ECEA could deal a massive blow to prediction markets such as the two most popular prediction markets in the world – Kalshi and Polymarket.

Environmental Groups Challenge EPA’s Rescission of Greenhouse Gas Regulations

Climate-related regulation remains one of the most politically and legally contested areas within the federal government, with regulatory direction often shifting alongside presidential administrations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) protects human health and the environment by developing and enforcing regulations based on scientific evidence. The administrator of the EPA is nominated by the President of the United States and confirmed by the U.S. Senate. As a result, the EPA’s regulatory determinations often reflect the policy beliefs and priorities of the current administration. On February 12, 2026, the EPA finalized its rescission of the endangerment finding, which served as the legal basis for regulating greenhouse gases, including greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles. Through its reversal, the EPA has introduced substantial regulatory uncertainty for the automotive industry and has set the stage for consequential legal, economic, and climate policy developments in the months ahead.

The Privatization of School: Who Oversees the Education of Youth Today?

Almost 10% of K-12 students – approximately 4.7 million children – were enrolled in private schools as of the fall of 2021. Families today are increasingly attracted to private schools amid rising concerns about the academic quality and safety of public schools. However, a key barrier to private schools is the cost, with 59% of parents stating they would send their children to private schools if vouchers could cover full tuition. In an effort to ease this burden, the Trump administration passed the “Educational Choice for Children Act” (the Act). This program allows parents to receive a tax credit up to $1,700 for donations made to scholarship granting organizations, increasing families’ ability to afford private schooling. However, the Act does nothing to help or subsidize families in the public school system, where a vast majority of American students still reside. Thus, with the Act, the federal government may be lessening the financial burden of private schooling, but it is doing so at the expense of public-school funding.

Betting on Compliance: Regulatory Challenges for Online Sports Betting Apps

The explosive growth of online sports betting in the United States over the past decade has created a complex regulatory frontier for digital wagering platforms. After the U.S. Supreme Court struck down the federal ban on sports gambling in Murphy v. NCAA, states have individually determined how and whether to legalize mobile sports wagering. This state-by-state patchwork, combined with the rise of innovative betting products, has generated compliance challenges in age verification, geolocation enforcement, consumer protection, anti-money laundering obligations, and advertising—issues that extend far beyond traditional in-person gambling regulation.

The Removal of the Endangerment Finding and its Aftershocks

The endangerment finding (EF) is the bedrock of environmental regulation within the United States. Founded on the basis of the the ruling in Massachusetts v. EPA, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued the “endangerment finding,” which declares two things. First, that greenhouse gases threaten the public health and welfare of current and future generations. Second, that the combined emissions of the greenhouse gases from motor vehicles contributes to overall greenhouse gas pollution, which in turn also threatens public health and welfare. This was the case. The EPA has repealed this finding. Now, the EPA lacks statutory authority under Section (a)(1) of the Clean Air Act (CAA), to regulate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for motor vehicles and other industries. Now, the EPA is no longer legally required to regulate pollutants such as GHGs. There is no longer any federal legal foundation to regulate vehicle, industrial or power plant emissions.

Regulating Minors in Digital Spaces

With the digital age, young children are gaining access to social media accounts. Child influencers are being put into the spotlight before they can understand the impact a lack of privacy can have on their lives. Children cannot meaningfully consent to having a digital footprint, states have a compelling interest in regulating child participation online. These legal safeguards are necessary for both the financial and psychological health of children in digital spaces. Just as states have long regulated child labor in the entertainment industry, the modern regulation of social media should provide the same protection for minors on social media.

Super Bowl Betting and the Rise of Prediction Markets

The Super Bowl remains the most watched sporting event in the United States, drawing billions in legal and illegal wagers each February. In recent years, a new form of wagering known as prediction markets has emerged, allowing users to trade on event outcomes in ways that resemble both sports betting and financial derivatives. These trading platforms raise compliance challenges because they intersect with both federal derivatives regulation and state gambling laws. At the same time, the NFL has taken their own stance, which is to restrict prediction markets from advertising around the Super Bowl. As a result, prediction markets tied to the Super Bowl exist in a regulatory gray area that demands clearer oversight to protect consumers and legal betting markets.

AI Data Centers and Rising Electric Bills

Electric bills are rising in many places, and the rapid expansion of AI data centers is adding new pressure to the power system. The big issue is how the electric grid pays for the infrastructure needed to serve rapidly growing electricity demand tied to AI. Serving that demand can require costly upgrades to the electric grid as well as securing additional electricity supply. When those costs are recovered through broadly applied rates instead of being assigned to the large new loads that triggered them, residential customers can see higher bills. State commissions and federal regulators influence these outcomes through tariffs, cost-allocation rules, and market design. As AI electricity use accelerates, questions of fairness and reliability have moved to the forefront of energy regulation.

The Shift from Lawmaking to Enforcement: State Privacy Regulation and Multi-State Coordination in 2026

The United States has reached a critical inflection point in data privacy regulation. Today, twenty states have adopted comprehensive privacy laws creating an increasingly complex array of regulatory requirements that interstate businesses must adhere to. Since the federal government has yet to enact universal privacy legislation and none coming in the foreseeable future, companies face mounting stress to navigate divergent state requirements while contending with a historic shift toward coordinated multi-state enforcement efforts.