Academia
Protecting Consumers in the Electric Vehicle Transition
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UC Berkeley paper highlights opportunities for California to strengthen consumer protections in the EV transition.
Guest contributor Jackie Dall is a UC Berkeley School of Law student (J.D. Candidate, ’27) Personal vehicles are one of the most significant financial commitments American households make, providing mobility and access to economic opportunity in most communities. The electric vehicle (EV) transition is underway and has the potential to directly impact consumers through the entire …
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CONTINUE READINGScrap Yards, Scrapped Enforcement?
The City of Los Angeles’s regulatory tools exist to protect communities from metal recycling hazards—but they’re rarely invoked.
This post was co-written by UCLA Law student Kate Inman (J.D., 2026). Throughout California’s Senate District 20, roughly thirty scrap metal recycling facilities sit in the industrial corridors running alongside residential housing. For the working-class, majority-Latino communities living blocks away, the legal system has been slow to respond. Drive through Sun Valley or Pacoima on …
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CONTINUE READINGCan Sustainability Be Abundant, Safe, and Affordable?
Read and watch key takeaways from the UCLA Emmett Institute’s 2026 symposium on climate policy and affordability.
This month, the UCLA Emmett Institute explored the intersection of climate goals, affordability concerns, and environmental protections by hosting a symposium titled “Can Abundance Be Sustainable?” The all-day, public event at UCLA School of Law brought together academics, community advocates, policymakers, journalists, students and—not one but two—heads of utility regulatory bodies. The goal was to think deeply about the path …
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CONTINUE READINGOn the Bleakest Earth Day, Trust the Undercurrent of Resistance
The first Earth Day succeeded because of a decade of preparatory work. Here are the lessons for us in 2026.
The 56th Earth Day may also be the bleakest. Wave upon wave is crashing upon our system of ecological protections. But having spent years studying the full sweep of American environmental legal history, we can say with confidence: the bigger the wave, the stronger the undercurrent. First, at a time when advocates for the environment …
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CONTINUE READINGLessons for a Warming Planet: A Vital History of U.S. Environmental Law
UCLA’s Alejandro Camacho discusses his new book and the lessons we can learn from prior generations of environmental advocates.
This Earth Day, environmental advocates are looking backward as well as forward. With the U.S. federal government so dramatically overhauling environmental policy, history shows how American social movements of the 19th and 20th centuries overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to preserve public lands and pass laws protecting human health. “I’ve been trying to look through the …
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CONTINUE READINGCalifornia Has a Neighborhood Decarbonization Law. How Does It Work?
New FAQ from UCLA outlines what we know (and don’t know) about the implementation of SB 1221, California’s landmark neighborhood decarbonization law.
By Sooji Yang, Lauren Dunlap, Elias van Emmerick, and Gregory Pierce The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) is currently navigating a wide array of questions from stakeholders as it designs a first-of-its-kind program to transition entire blocks of buildings from natural gas to zero-emission alternatives. Guidelines for the pilot program—a central component of Senate Bill …
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CONTINUE READING‘Smog and Sunshine’: Achieving Clean Air in California
UCLA’s Ann Carlson discusses her new book and how the state can address federal efforts to undo its emissions standards.
Los Angeles is famous for both sunshine and smog. Turns out the two are related. Ozone pollution is caused by the interaction of sunlight and the chemicals that come out of vehicle tailpipes and factory smokestacks. But when Ann Carlson’s family first moved to Southern California, nobody knew what caused smog and there were no laws …
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CONTINUE READINGThe Promise of Non-Pipeline Alternatives to Gas Lines
A new UCLA Law brief evaluates the Home Energy Choice Act (AB 2313) by California Assemblymember Marc Berman.
This post was co-written by Guest Contributor Maeve Anderson (J.D. Candidate 2026, UCLA School of Law). California’s transition away from natural gas is accelerating, with new policy tools emerging to speed the shift and ease the financial burden on ratepayers. In February 2026, California Assemblymember Marc Berman introduced the Home Energy Choice Act (AB 2313), a bill that would …
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CONTINUE READINGWhat Does Wildfire Resilience Cost?
A new UCLA Law report focuses on wildfire liability costs and wildfire mitigation costs in the transmission context.
When it comes to updating transmission lines and other wildfire-related costs, how much of the burden should fall on utility ratepayers? That’s one of the questions at the heart of a new report published by the UCLA Emmett Institute. First, some context: California saw its hottest temperatures ever recorded in March this year. With a hotter climate come more frequent and …
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CONTINUE READINGWe are Hitting a Major Methane Milestone
The Drain is a weekly roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
This year, we celebrate 250 years since its discovery. No, I don’t mean America (though plans are underway to celebrate the semiquincentennial this July.) I’m talking about methane — that colorless, odorless, flammable and short-lived but super potent greenhouse gas that is helping heat the planet faster than carbon dioxide. It was 250 years ago …
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