The Pritzker Environmental Law and Policy Briefs are published by UCLA School of Law in conjunction with researchers from a wide range of academic disciplines as well as the broader environmental law community. The papers provide expert analysis to engage further public dialogue on important issues impacting the environment.
This paper series is made possible through a generous donation by Anthony “Tony” Pritzker. Mr. Pritzker is an active member of and a leader in the Los Angeles community. He is a managing partner and co-founder of The Pritzker Group, a private investment firm representing Pritzker family interests, and he serves as chairman of AmSafe Partners. Mr. Pritzker is a trustee of Cal Arts, serves as a Director for Heal The Bay and is a member of the Dartmouth Board of Overseers. For his stewardship, Tony has received honors from Friends of Sheba Medical Center in Israel, Young Presidents’ Organization and the Brandeis Bardin Institute. He established the Anthony Pritzker Family Foundation in 2002, supporting health organizations, human services and Jewish agencies.
Approximately 27 trillion pounds of chemicals are produced or imported into the United States every year, more than one trillion of them in California alone. In the face of relative inaction at the federal level, state governments have moved to address hazardous chemical use. Our third Pritzker Brief evaluates California's green chemistry legislation (AB 1879), identifying four critical flaws that threaten to undermine its success. Recommended revisions to the law are discussed. These recommendations include: review of new chemicals and new uses before introduction into commerce; required disclosure of chemical data by product manufacturers; and authorization of a regulatory fee to adequately fund California's green chemistry program.
Los Angeles is one of the best places in the country for a relatively easy and cost-effective measure to improve public health, combat climate change, reduce energy demand, and save money: installing cool roofs. This Pritzker Brief makes a case for accelerating the adoption of cool roofs in L.A. and recommends law and policy strategies for achieving that goal. Using a dataset of L.A. rooftops and some conservative estimates of energy savings, Cara Horowitz shows that L.A. residents could save $30 million a year if the city significantly improved its adoption of cool roofs on new and existing buildings. Other benefits would include improved air quality, lower urban temperatures, and a reduction in global warming equivalent to removing millions of cars from the road for a year.
Pritzker Policy Brief No. 1 | July 2011
California’s water supply system depends heavily on groundwater use, but its overuse threatens the reliability of the state’s future water availability. In our inaugural Pritzker Brief, Rhead Enion describes the importance of groundwater and the advantages of realigning California's water rights system to better manage groundwater. According to Under Water, the state should establish enforceable standards and goals for monitoring, data reporting and management of groundwater basins, to be implemented by regional and local entities. Under Water recommends, among other things: comprehensive groundwater monitoring, including groundwater use metering and groundwater quality screenings; the availability at a statewide level of monitoring data from regional and local agencies; and the implementation of statewide rules for regional regulation of groundwater, with mandatory management goals.