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Climate Change


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Publications

Combatting Sea Level Rise in Southern California

In the Summer 2013 volume of Hasting West Northwest Journal of Environmental Law & Policy, Emmett/Frankel Fellow Megan Herzog and Environmental Law Center Executive Director Sean Hecht discuss how Southern California local governments can seize sea-level rise adaptation opportunities while minimizing legal risk.

The President, Climate Change, and California

In the Harvard Law Review Forum, ​Professor Ann Carlson explains how a focus on California can help President Obama to fulfill his pledge to combat climate change through executive action.

Vision 2021 LA: A Model Sustainability Agenda for Los Angeles

Faculty and researchers at the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment, UCLA's Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, and the law school's Evan Frankel Environmental Law and Policy Program have crafted the first comprehensive environmental sustainability plan for the city of Los Angeles. 

Rules of the Game Recap

In this two-page recap of our report from August 2011, we review the California cap-and-trade program as adopted and find our conclusions still​ apply: the California Air Resources Board has designed a cap-and-trade program that should avoid gaming and market manipulation problems sometimes seen in other programs.

Spending California

​California faces crucial questions about how to spend proceeds from its cap-and-trade auctions. This paper assesses legal constraints on AB 32 auction revenue allocation that derive from the statute itself or from California’s constitutional restrictions on the use of regulatory fees. We make recommendations about the relative risks of approaches to allocating AB 32 state auction proceeds

Bright Roofs, Big City

​In our second Pritzker Brief, Cara Horowitz explains how installing cool roofs in Los Angeles could improve public health, combat climate change, reduce energy demand, and save money.

Harvesting Clean Energy

​Our ninth paper of this series discusses how California can steer large-scale renewable development without depleting the state's prime agricultural and biological resources.

Rules of the Game

​With Bowman Cutter​, an economist at Pomona College, we take a detailed look at California's proposed greenhouse gas trading regulations to assess the risks of market manipulation and rules violations. We ask whether the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has put in place the right measures to limit market gaming, and we address CARB’s ability to detect foul play, take necessary enforcement actions, and impose adequate penalties. Our report​ concludes that CARB has crafted well-regulated market that limits these risks. We provide recommendations aimed at strengthening an already well-designed program. ​

An Environmental Blueprint for California

​California's long-term prosperity is vulnerable to climate change, energy insecurity, environmental threats to public health, and a growing scarcity of key resources. Governor Brown has a tremendous opportunity to build on the state's past environmental successes, bringing enormous benefits to our economy and public health.

Our Blueprint describes three key areas that Governor Brown must focus on to ensure a healthy environmental future for all Californians. He must strengthen California's foundation for environmental protection. He must promote specific initiatives to address climate and energy instability. And he must advance cost-effective initiatives in traditional areas of environmental concern, such as water quality, water supply, coastal resources, chemical risks, air quality and biodiversity.

Background Information on Proposition 23 and California

This brochure presents background information on Propositoin 23 and California's Global Warming Solutions Act (AB 32).​



Events

Lecture & Panel | What Climate Change Means for LA

Join us for a half-day seminar featuring groundbreaking climate prediction research by Alex Hall, UCLA climate scientist and professor, followed by a panel discussion with climate policy experts.

 
Workshop| REDD+ in California?

This all-day symposium will explore the potential benefits and challenges of linking programs in foreign jurisdictions directed at Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD) to California’s cap-and-trade program as sources of offsets.

 
Conference | Climate Solutions for Los Angeles: Hot City, Cool Roofs

The City of Los Angeles, Climate Resolve, the Los Angeles Regional Collaborative, and the Emmett Center invite you to an exclusive conference that brings together experts, innovators, and policymakers to inform LA area leaders on cool roof technologies and how cool roofs can help LA survive and thrive in a changing climate.  Speakers include LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Emmett Center Executive Director Cara Horowitz, and Haley Gilbert of the Heat Island Group at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

 
Lunch Talk | David Miller - Can A Lawyer/Mayor Succeed Against Climate Change Where Nations Have Failed?

Come hear how the world’s largest cities are combating and responding to climate change from David Miller, former Mayor of Toronto and Chair of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and current Counsel of International Business and Sustainability at Aird & Berlis LLP.  Lunch provided!  Please RSVP here.

 
Global Warming: The Alberta Oil Sands and Canadian Climate Policy

Professor Andrew Weaver, from the University of Victoria, will discuss the Alberta oil sands and Canadian climate policy​.

 
Symposium | California

California’s landmark cap-and-trade program for controlling greenhouse gases gets underway this year, with the state’s first public auction slated for November 2012. The state still faces crucial questions, however, about how to spend revenues derived from its cap-and-trade auctions. Our symposium will look at a set of key questions surrounding revenue allocation decisions.

 
Lunch Talk | Small Islands, Climate Change, and the United Nations

Mark Jariabka, Executive Director of Islands First, will speak on how his environmental nonprofit works to build the capacity of small island developing states to advance their environmental agendas on the international stage.​ Please RSVP.

 
Lunch Talk | The Republican Brain: The Science of Why They Deny Science and Reality

Chris Mooney, the bestselling author of The Republican War on Science, will discuss his new book at a lunch talk.  Please RSVP.​

 
Lunch Talk and Book Signing | Dr. Michael Mann

At UCLA Law on Monday, February 13, Dr. Michael Mann will discuss his new book, "The Hockey Stick and the Climate Wars: Dispatches from the Front Lines."

 
Lunch Talk: Peter Frumhoff
Lunch Talk: Peter Frumhoff
Monday, November 21

Peter Frumhoff is the Director of Science and Policy for the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the Chief Scientist for its climate campaign. He is one of the country's leading voices on climate science and policy. Free to the public.​

 
Oppenheimer Lecture | Dr. Albert Carnesale

​Dr. Albert Carnesale will present the key recommendations of the recent report on global climate change responses, published by the National Academy of Sciences.

 
Lunch Talk: Joel Reynolds
Lunch Talk: Joel Reynolds
Monday, October 3

NRDC Southern California Program Director Joel Reynolds will discuss environmental advocacy in the 21st Century.​

 
Perspectives on Climate Change, Pollution, and the Clean Air Act

This symposium examines the relationship between Clean Air Act regulation and climate change from legal, principle and practical perspectives. Gina McCarthy, EPA Assistant Administrator for Air and Radiation, will be the lunch keynote speaker.

The symposium will be held at UCLA School of Law on Friday, April 15, 2011. Register now!

 
Former Congressman Bob Inglis: Bringing America Together over Energy

Former Congressman Bob Inglis (R-S.C.) will give a public talk at UCLA Law School on the topic of conservatives and climate change. Rep. Inglis recently lost his seat in the June 2010 Republican primary due in part to his support of climate change action.​

 
Talk | Energy and Climate Policy in the Obama Administration

​Jody Freeman, who until recently served as Counselor for Energy and Climate Change in the White House, will discuss the Obama administration's energy and climate agenda.

 
A Public Debate: Proposition 23 and the Future of California

​On Oct. 21, 2010 at Korn Convocation Hall the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability, KPCC Southern California Radio and the LA Times presented a public debate on Prop. 23, which would suspend AB 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act that requires reduced greenhouse gas emissions, until California's unemployment rate drops to 5.5% or below for four consecutive quarters.

 
The Climate War
The Climate War
Thursday, September 23

Eric Pooley is the author of the book "The Climate War", and the Deputy Editor of Bloomberg Businessweek. He is the former Managing Editor of Fortune, and Chief Political Correspondent for Time. His book "Climate War" examines the history of the climate change debate in Washington, focusing on answering the question of why, after all these years, we still haven't developed a comprehensive policy.​

 
India and Climate Change

We brought together NGOs, policy analysts, and legal and political science scholars working both in the U.S. and in India on climate change issues. Panels will focus on promising routes for engaging with India post-Copenhagen; challenges for domestic progress in India on climate and energy; and the intersection of international trade law and climate questions in India-US relations. ​

 
Climate Change and Geoengineering

Geoengineering is the deliberate, large-scale manipulation of Earth’s environment to address the threats of climate change.  It is thought to be one of the few approaches that can successfully counteract global warming.  Dr. Wil Burns will speak about the past, present, and future of geoengineering, with a special focus on the feasibility of currently proposed geoengineering projects and potential governance mechanisms. ​

 
Post-Copenhagen Discussion with UCLA Law School Delegation

The Environmental Law Society presents an informal brownbag discussion with the UCLA School of Law delegation to Copenhagen's Conference of Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, led by Prof. Cara Horowitz of the Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment.  Professor Horowitz and the student delegates will talk about their experiences and impressions of the ongoing international climate negotiation process.​

 
Adapting to a Parched Future: Cities, Development, and the War for Water

​How will the shrinking supply of water for Southern California affect urban and suburban development in the Southland?  How should policymakers, water suppliers, local governments, and developers respond?  What new litigation and other risks do developers and water managers face in this new era?  And what, if anything, does this have to do with climate change?  Come join this discussion with a panel of water experts drawn from business, law, and government. 

 
Enacting Comprehensive Federal Climate Change Legislation in the Age of Environmental Eclecticism, or, We

Thomas R. Mounteer, partner at Paul Hastings, will discuss political compromise, science and the likelihood of comprehensive climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate.​

 
States in the Lead: Climate and Transportation Policy

This day of workshops will bring together state leaders and others from around the country to explore lessons learned from the state models, to share their strategies with policymakers on Capitol Hill, and to discuss ways that they can continue to lead. ​

 
Litigating Climate Change from California: Kate Kenealy, Deputy Attorney General, Natural Resources, California Department of Justice

Get the inside scoop on climate cases from one of California's leading climate change and air quality litigators.  Ms. Kenealy will discuss recent developments involving the state's efforts to limit greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles, as well as emerging issues involving the interplay between state and federal initiatives to improve air quality.​

 
Climate Change Forum with Rep. Henry Waxman and Sen. Fran Pavley

UCLA welcomed Rep. Henry Waxman (CA-30) and Sen. Fran Pavley (SD-23) for a public forum on landmark state and federal climate legislation. ​

 
LA

On Friday, March 6, 2009, the day-long symposium at UCLA focused on the response of government, industry and communities in the L.A. region to the new AB 32 scoping plan and coming climate change regulations. 

 
Changing Climates: Adapting Law and Policy to a Transforming World

This public symposium brought together policymakers, legal scholars and environmental experts to address the impact of climate change on law and policy.  Articles from the symposium are published in Volume 56 of the UCLA Law Review.​

 
Coping with Global Warming

The conference  focused on how we will adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change, even as we all work to prevent those impacts.  Articles from the symposium will be featured in a special issue of the UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy.​

 
Preventing and Responding to Catastrophe: The Role of Environmental Law and Policy

Leading scholars, advocates and government officials discussed disaster planning and response, with particular attention to global climate change and to the vulnerability of California's levee system.  Bruce Babbitt gave the keynote address, stressing the importance of land-use planning in ensuring that more housing isn't built in vulnerable areas. ​