Emmett Institute

Fifteen Years of Legal Planet

5700 blog posts later, we’re still speaking — if not “truth to power”— then our best approximation of truth, to anyone who’ll listen.

A decade and a half ago, the law school here announced the launch of a new environmental law blog by Berkeley and UCLA. The March 11, 2009 press release began: “The University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Berkeley Law) and UCLA School of Law today announced the launch of a new blog, Legal Planet, …

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Yes, It’s That Time of Year Again

If you read Legal Planet, you know how much the work we do matters. Now is the time to support it.

Like everyone else, I’m sure you find fundraising appeals annoying. That’s why we only do them two days a year on Legal Planet.  But there couldn’t be a more important time for the work we do. This has been the hottest year on record. It’s really now or never to address climate change. That means …

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My Farewell to UCLA

Leaving UCLA to join Earthjustice is exciting, and bittersweet, for me

This will be my final Legal Planet post as a member of the UCLA faculty. After 20 wonderful years at UCLA School of Law, directing our Environmental Law Center and Wells Clinic and then co-directing our Emmett Institute with Cara Horowitz, I’m leaving to join Earthjustice as the managing attorney of the organization’s California Regional …

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Guest Contributor Laurel Hunt: Egypt’s Corals Get a Seat at the Table at COP27

Derek Keats, Diver, bubbles and wall at Elphinstone Reef, Red Sea, Egypt https://www.flickr.com/photos/dkeats/6186078630/

The region’s coral reefs are a precious resource under threat, but they also exhibit exceptional thermal tolerance to heat stress

Laurel Hunt (UCLA JD ’23) attended COP27 as a member of the UCLA Emmett Institute delegation. This is her fifth UN Climate meeting. This year, she moderated two panels on coral reefs and risk mapping. She is the former Executive Director of Los Angeles’ regional climate collaborative and an international city-to-city climate network. As global climate leaders edged toward …

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Welcoming New Fellows to the Emmett Institute

Emmett Institute fellows Heather Dadashi (left) and Andria So (center) with LA Waterkeeper staff attorney and former fellow Benjamin Harris at the nonprofit's annual fundraiser in Malibu. 

This month, the Emmett Institute is excited to welcome three new fellows to our program: Daniel Carpenter-Gold, Heather Dadashi, and Andria So. Our fellows serve in limited-term academic appointments at UCLA Law to support our research, teaching, and public service initiatives. Our new fellows join Beth Kent, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy for …

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Profs. William Boyd and Alex Wang Join Prof. Ted Parson in Emmett Institute Faculty Leadership

UCLA School of Law

Faculty Take on New Roles at Emmett Institute

This month, the Emmett Institute is thrilled to welcome two of our core faculty members, William Boyd and Alex Wang, to new roles at the Institute. Both will serve as faculty co-directors alongside our faculty director Ted Parson. In their new roles, Prof. Wang and Prof. Boyd will help lead the Emmett Institute’s ambitious research, …

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Earth Day in the Time of Covid-19

Emmett Institute Addresses How the Pandemic and Lockdown Affect Environmental Issues

This Wednesday, April 22, marks the 50th time we have celebrated Earth Day. This year’s celebrations will, of course, look nothing like the first Earth Day in 1970, when 20 million people took to American  streets to raise public awareness about environmental issues.  Given the global lockdown because of the covid-19 pandemic, large public gatherings …

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Cities are suing oil companies for climate change harms. Could they win?

Join UCLA Law Emmett Institute and Union of Concerned Scientists for January 25 evening talk on new climate lawsuits

Who should pay for the significant costs that cities and other local governments incur in responding to climate change? Los Angeles is the most recent city to explore the idea of suing fossil fuel companies for these harms, following in the footsteps of San Francisco, San Mateo County and a growing cohort of other jurisdictions …

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Want an Economy-Wide Cap on U.S. Climate Emissions? Consider This Corner of the Clean Air Act

New report on Section 115 of the Act suggests an interesting post-Paris approach

A largely-untapped provision of the Clean Air Act authorizes the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to develop and implement an economy-wide, market-based program to reduce domestic greenhouse gas emissions and achieve the Obama Administration’s Paris Agreement pledge, according to a report released today by several coordinating law school centers, including the Emmett Institute at UCLA.  See …

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James Salzman of Emmett Institute Appointed to U.S. National Drinking Water Advisory Council

Professor James Salzman of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment has been appointed to the U.S. National Drinking Water Advisory Council, a federal advisory committee that supports the Environmental Protection Agency in its duties and responsibilities to the national drinking water program. Professor Salzman is the author of “Drinking Water: A History” …

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