In January, five members of UCLA School of Law’s Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment and Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, challenging the Trump administration’s rollback of federal vehicle pollution and fuel economy standards.

California’s drive toward statewide carbon neutrality by 2045 relies on two related transitions: completely decarbonizing the state’s electrical grid; and shifting as many energy sources and fuels to electricity as possible. Transitioning buildings from natural gas to electricity–their heating and cooling systems, water heaters, and cooking equipment–is among the state’s highest priorities for the coming decade. 

UCLA School of Law Professor Ann Carlson has been appointed to serve as the chief counsel of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the federal agency that has joint authority with the Environmental Protection Agency over car and truck greenhouse gas standards.

California has enacted ambitious climate goals, including a statewide carbon neutrality target by 2045. While much of the required greenhouse gas reductions will come from clean technology and emission reduction programs, meeting these targets will necessitate new methods of actively removing carbon from the atmosphere and capturing difficult-to-mitigate emissions, including via technologies broadly known as engineered carbon removal.

After the Trump administration eviscerated federal climate rules and rolled back more than 100 regulations that protected the environment, President-elect Joe Biden’s administration has significant work ahead to rebuild the nation’s climate policies, says UCLA School of Law Professor Ann Carlson.