Los Angeles
The Dirty Truth Behind a Feel-Good Energy Story
The San Francisco 49ers just became the first NFL team to buy sustainable aviation fuel. But that move is overshadowed by Big Oil sponsorships in sports.
Did you see the story about a new ‘NFL first’? The San Francisco 49ers announced that it was the first NFL franchise to buy sustainable aviation fuel or SAF —enough to fly from San Francisco to LA for their Sunday game against the LA Rams. The story generated headlines, the way any “first” tends to. …
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CONTINUE READINGOil and Gas Sponsorships in Major League Sports
A survey of sponsorships across six major league sports leagues in the U.S. reveals more than 60 deals with high-polluting companies.
If California Attorney General Rob Bonta attends a home game to cheer on his local NBA team—the Sacramento Kings—he may encounter sponsorship ads promoting not one but two of the oil companies he’s suing for allegedly deceiving the public about climate change. Then again, Attorney General Bonta, a former soccer player and self-described soccer dad, …
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CONTINUE READINGA New Energy Project at UCLA Law
The Emmett Clean Energy Law & Leadership project will build a bridge between the existing expertise of UCLA’s energy law scholars and policymakers.
You don’t have to look beyond the front pages of newspapers, or beyond rooftops in your neighborhood to know that we are in the midst of a clean energy revolution, with renewable energy technologies dramatically decreasing in price and increasing in availability. These technologies promise to reduce energy cost burdens for households, as well as …
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CONTINUE READINGCommunity Solar: The Systemwide Benefits
The debates over community solar program design are fascinating sites of struggle over which values should drive decision-making.
Electricity regulation has traditionally been defined by a relatively narrow public interest prerogative: ensuring just and reasonable rates for reliable electric service. The call to decarbonize, however, has injected a new diversity of values into the conversation. Transforming the electric power system to reduce greenhouse gas emissions is opening new opportunities to elevate values like …
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CONTINUE READINGWhy are the Dodgers Sullying Their Brand With Big Oil?
As fossil fuel advertising increasingly comes under fire, it’s time for the ball club to call ‘strike three’ on 76.
On a recent trip to the Ravine, a friend and I couldn’t help but be struck by the prominence of advertisements for 76, a gas station company owned by the Big Oil conglomerate Phillips 66. A couple of giant 76 signs sit atop the two main Dodgers scoreboards; their placement is such that they dominate …
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CONTINUE READINGCars, Smog, and EPA
Over the past fifty years, EPA has overseen incredible reductions in auto pollution.
This is part of an occasional series of posts about the evolution of pollution standards. Today’s subject is pollution control for new vehicles, which have been known to cause smog since the 1960s. The history of these pollution standards is quite distinctive. At the high temperatures in internal combustion engines, some of the nitrogen in …
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CONTINUE READINGMaking Building Decarbonization Work for LA Renters
A new UCLA report recommends policies to green existing buildings in a way that protects and supports residential tenants.
Los Angeles’ ambitious “Green New Deal” calls for, among other things, eliminating or offsetting building emissions and reducing building energy use by 44%, both by 2050. This is an impressive and ambitious target, and while the city has begun restricting some emissions from new buildings, it is still figuring out how to tackle the far …
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CONTINUE READINGAir Quality Watchdog Agrees to Get Tougher on Refineries
There’s a favorable settlement in the case brought by Earthjustice on behalf of EYCEJ with help from UCLA law students.
Last year, the South Coast Air Quality Management District was accused of not properly enforcing a state law that requires petroleum refineries to install air-quality monitoring systems around their perimeter. Essentially, the air quality watchdog exempted smaller refineries from having to follow the rules. Now, the SCAQMD has agreed to reverse course and move to …
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CONTINUE READINGTwo Cheers For CEQA
A recent case shows why the law is so important – and how it can be abused
Even the best and conscientious developers gnash their teeth at CEQA, California’s environmental review law, and one can see why: it can allow NIMBYs to block useful housing and supercharge exclusion. But there’s a reason why the law was passed and why it has persisted, and we saw it three days ago: Trees of Los …
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CONTINUE READINGHow Much Rain is L.A. Capturing?
Local measures like Measure W are working. But more needs to be done to capture stormwater and rainwater.
At least nine atmospheric rivers blasted California between December 20th and January 15th, causing flooding and extensive damage, while also delivering much needed precipitation to our parched state. The Los Angeles County Public Works Department announced recently that more than 33 billion gallons of stormwater have been captured in the early months of the winter …
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