Regulatory Policy

Evolving Energy Positions, 2016-2024

The national debate over climate and energy has shifted since Trump’s first run in 2016.

Coal, once a political flash point, has almost disappeared as an issue, with oil and gas production in unchallenged first place for Republicans.  Clean energy subsidies, a side-issue in 2016,, have now taken center stage, while EPA regulations get much less attention.  The one thing that remains unchanged is the gulf between the parties.

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The Contract with America

Or, as some critics called it, “the Contract ON America.”

The Contract with America was the brainchild of Newt Gingrich. It was a turning point in American politics: moving the GOP from compromise to confrontation, nationalizing what had previously been locally oriented House races, and shifting the GOP far to the right. There’s a reason they call Gingrich the man who broke Congress.

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Community Solar: Compensation

Who gets the money? Compensation mechanisms are where a lot of the power of these programs resides, but naturally, also the debate.

This post is co-written by Naomi Caldwell (J.D. ’24, UCLA School of Law). Two recent posts explored community solar through the lens of its many potential benefits. (Part One on systemwide benefits and Part Two on local and individual benefits.) Today’s post follows the money, exploring community solar compensation mechanisms. The question of who makes …

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The Libertarian Critique of Trump’s “Schedule F”

As it turns out, you can hate BOTH government regulation and Trump’s assault on the “deep state.”

Installing inexperienced ideologues in the executive branch won’t accomplish anything useful and would only make it harder to implement deregulatory policies. The main effect of Schedule F would be gridlock rather than policy change

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A 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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The State of the Race

Who will shape federal climate and energy policies? The answer remains too close to call.

Republicans are favored to take control of the Senate, but who will control the House and the Presidency remains too close to call. The implications for climate policy and the future of the planet could be profound.

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“Salt Lakes in Crisis: Legal Responses to Ecological Catastrophes”

Upcoming U.C. Davis Law Review Symposium To Provide Interdisciplinary Focus On Threatened Western U.S. Lakes

On Friday, September 20th, the student-run U.C. Davis Law Review will host a most timely conference examining an environmental crisis facing many of the American West’s iconic “terminal lakes.” That term refers to lakes that have no natural outlet.  For many years, protracted droughts and human diversions from freshwater rivers and streams feeding those lakes …

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Rightwing Authoritarianism vs the Environment

In the U.S. and elsewhere, rightwing authoritarians oppose climate action. That’s not a coincidence.

Project 2025 favors authoritarian presidential rule. It also wants to destroy environmental regulation, especially climate law. That’s not a coincidence.  The combination of authoritarianism, extreme conservative ideology, and anti-environmentalism is common globally, not just in U.S. politics. There’s no logical connection between a belief in authoritarian government, upholding traditional hierarchies, and views about protecting the …

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The Zombie Myth of Job-Killing Regulations

Some ideas never die, no matter how much evidence piles up against them.

With the Labor Day weekend coming up, let’s talk about jobs. Some myths are like zombies in two ways.  They refuse to lie down and die, not matter what you do. And if you aren’t careful, they can eat your brain.  An example is the idea that environmental regulation kills jobs. Tragically, this brain worm …

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Trump’s Replacement for Project 2025: The “Other” MAGA Plan

It’s not Project 2025, but the “America First Agenda” is worse in some ways.

From the perspective of those who believe in environmental protection, the Trump team’s switch from one rightwing think tank to another doesn’t seem to be much of an improvement. They would both set environmental law back by decades.

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