Los Angeles
City of Los Angeles will promote widespread adoption of “cool roof” technology, citing benefits documented in Emmett Center report
One of the core goals of our environmental law programs at UCLA Law is to influence and inform public policy with our research. I’m proud to say that our Emmett Center on Climate Change and the Environment is doing exactly that. The City of Los Angeles, influenced by the Emmett Center’s work, is moving forward …
CONTINUE READINGThe First Day of Spring, 2013
…was today, February 28th. At least in my non-scientific, highly qualitative opinion. When I was in college during the 1980’s, spring break occurred during the second and third weeks of March. I would fly back to Los Angeles from New England, to be greeted by a southern California winter, which of course wasn’t much of …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy Monitoring Matters
There’s been a lot of discussion here about the failings of the latest Supreme Court environmental decision in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. NRDC. I don’t really want to pile on with those criticisms – though it is baffling to me that the Court wasted its very limited judicial resources correcting the Ninth …
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CONTINUE READINGSupreme Court overturns Ninth Circuit decision that held L.A. County Flood Control District liable for stormwater pollution in a poorly-reasoned, but narrow, decision
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its opinion in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council. I’ve blogged about this case before, noting that the Supreme Court’s grant of review in this case was based on a completely mistaken premise. (If you’re unfamiliar with the case, the linked post explains in …
CONTINUE READINGThe strange saga of how Los Angeles County’s stormwater pollution ended up in the Supreme Court
Tomorrow, the Supreme Court will hear oral argument in Los Angeles County Flood Control District v. Natural Resources Defense Council. This case involves a lawsuit by clean-water advocates to require our County Flood Control District to take responsibility for ensuring that polluted stormwater doesn’t impair our local water quality in two local rivers. The Ninth …
CONTINUE READINGC-Change.la and a Sea Change in Climate Change Communication
It has become increasingly clear that in order to address climate change effectively through carbon emissions reduction and adapting to new conditions, we will need new communication tools. Last week, I blogged about a new, groundbreaking climate impact study that projects the impacts of climate change on southern California’s communities at unprecedentedly high resolution. What …
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CONTINUE READINGUCLA and City of Los Angeles Publish First-Ever Detailed Long-Term Climate Forecast for a City’s Neighborhoods
A team led by UCLA researcher Dr. Alex Hall has released a study that projects temperature trends by neighborhood within the Los Angeles region for the mid-21st century. The report is the most sophisticated regional study of climate trends that has ever been developed, and is based on climate modeling two orders of magnitude higher …
CONTINUE READINGNew legislative effort underway to develop public access to the L.A. River
Earlier this year, California State Senator Kevin De Leon introduced SB 1201, a bill that could bolster efforts to open up the Los Angeles River for lawful recreational uses such as boating. I have a particular interest in this, since UCLA’s Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic worked with the advocacy group Friends of the Los …
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CONTINUE READINGWill Expanded Federal Transit Financing Result In More Toll Roads?
In a time of infrastructure needs and scaled-back public sector budgets, finding dollars for public transit projects can be a challenge. Transit advocates hit on a great formula, however, starting in Los Angeles with the “30/10” Plan. 30/10 would allow Los Angeles to build 30 years worth of sales tax-funded transit projects in 10 years, …
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CONTINUE READINGCan a Taco Stand Be a Historic Monument?
The owner of Henry’s Tacos, at the corner of Tujunga and Moorpark in the glorious San Fernando Valley, thinks it can: The third-generation owner of Henry’s Tacos has filed an application with the City’s Office of Historic Resources to have the taco stand declared a Historic-Cultural Monument. Janis Hood, granddaughter of founder Henry Comstock, hopes …
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