In the new book Mine!: How the Hidden Rules of Ownership Control Our Lives (Doubleday), UCLA School of Law professor James Salzman reveals the hidden rules that govern who owns what – from the reclining space behind airline seats to HBO passwords for streaming shows.
California’s electricity infrastructure is entering a period of profound change, with state leaders striving to achieve 60 percent renewable sources by 2030 and 100 percent zero-carbon power by 2045, while increasingly severe heat waves and wildfires threaten the reliability and resilience of the grid.
UCLA Emmett Institute faculty members Cara Horowitz, Julia Stein, Benjamin Harris, Beth Kent, and Siyi Shen submitted an amicus brief on January 21, 2021, 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. The brief was filed on behalf of Sen. Tom Carper, chairman of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, and Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., chairman of the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
On July 5, 2018, students and faculty in the UCLA Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic filed an amicus brief in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a group of world-class scientists including E.O. Wilson, Stuart Pimm, and UCLA's Brad Shaffer. Sean Hecht authored the brief with assistance from students Jen Garlock '19 and Heejin Hwang '19. The brief argued the Court and federal agencies should employ a scientific understanding of habitat, not a dictionary definition that would inadequately protect species, to implement the Endangered Species Act in the way Congress intended.
California’s electrical grid stands at the center of the state’s climate challenge. State greenhouse gas emission reduction plans rely on achieving 60 percent renewable power by 2030 and 100 percent carbon-free power by 2045. At the same time, aging grid infrastructure has contributed to record-setting wildfires, leading utilities to impose preemptive system shutoffs for public safety. A range of technologies are available to simultaneously promote resilience and decarbonization, but policy reforms will be necessary to bring them to scale.
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.