We kicked off the summer this month with a record-attendance symposium at UCLA Law on California's leadership in environmental law and policy. Thanks to everyone who came out! More updates below.

Sean Hecht , co-executive director, Emmett Institute

In recent years, California Coastal Commission meetings have seen increasing tension between pro-development interests and environmentalists over questions of how the agency arrives at decisions when reviewing coastal development permit applications, certifying local coastal programs, and other important matters.

In a new Pritzker Brief , Ralph Faust identifies ways to help make the California Coastal Commission's public decision-making process more transparent and fair. Faust is former chief counsel of the California Coastal Commission.

See Faust's Legal Planet blog post and read the report .

Sea-level rise is already impacting California and coastal communities are preparing for significant disruptions in the short-to-medium term. 

At a Zócalo/UCLA Downtown event on July 9, Sean Hecht will join UCLA scientist Alex Hall and California Coastal Commission member Effie Turnbull Sander to detail the extent to which the state could lose its signature coastline. Los Angeles Times reporter Rosanna Xia will moderate the conversation. Details/RSVP.

Improving the energy performance of existing buildings will be key to achieving California’s efficiency and greenhouse gas emission goals. But owners and residents of low-income, multifamily buildings face some of the greatest obstacles to financing improvements.

In a new report from the Emmett Institute and Berkeley Law's Center for Law, Energy, and the Environment, Ethan Elkind and Ted Lamm detail solutions. Read the report.

Stopping deforestation may be the hardest and most important part of the climate change challenge.

This month at UCLA Law, Governor Dominggus Mandacan, Governor of West Papua, Indonesia, discussed forest conservation efforts in the province at a workshop organized by William Boyd .

In 2018, the Governors of Papua and West Papua signed the Manokwari Declaration, committing the two Indonesian provinces to prioritizing sustainable development in indigenous territories while conserving 70 percent of the forest cover on the Western half of the island of Papua. Learn more.

Photo credit: Daniel Melling
Celebrating Pride at Dodger Stadium

The Emmett Institute took the Expo Line and Metro bus to Dodger Stadium for the 7th Annual LGBT Night to watch the Boys in Blue defeat the Phillies 6 - 3. The game saw the Dodgers' highest regular season attendance since 2012. Rainbows were sported, peanuts were eaten, and Bryce Harper was enthusiastically booed.

Photo credit: Meredith Hankins
Ideas for effective U.S. energy policy

On June 10, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Resources for the Future hosted a book launch and discussion at the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C. for Ann Carlson and Dallas Burtraw's new book, Lessons from the Clean Air Act .

At the event, Carlson and leading experts in energy and environmental policy discussed how lessons from the book could be used to guide and create effective energy policies at all levels of government. Emmett Institute advisory board member and former U.S. Representative Henry Waxman delivered a keynote address . See photos .

Photo credit: Resources for the Future, Facebook
Investigating the life cycle impacts of advanced battery technology

Large-scale batteries can complement intermittent renewable energy resources like wind and solar power in California as the state transitions to low-carbon electricity.

But before battery technologies are deployed at large-scale, it is critical to understand the full spectrum of health and environmental benefits and impacts associated with the life cycle of different battery technologies.

UC researchers including Tim Malloy are leading a multi-campus research initiative focused on developing a research roadmap for large-scale battery storage for renewables. A workshop at UCLA Law in 2020 will consider legislative and administrative policy-making processes to support new technologies.

Photo credit: Duke Energy, Flickr
Divya Rao '20 joins the Emmett Institute as summer research assistant

A joint JD/MBA candidate at UCLA, Divya Rao is working with us this summer on projects related to California climate regulation and, on the international front, is researching pathways for translating climate commitments and policies into action. Earlier this year, Rao traveled to Washington, D.C., with the Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic to brief Congress on legislation that could help reduce plastic pollution in oceans.

Photo credit: Daniel Melling
June trivia corner

The U.S. Women's National Team is currently competing in the FIFA Women's World Cup in France. Each of their jerseys is manufactured from recycled plastic equivalent to how many plastic bottles?

Please send responses to quizmaster Daniel Melling, melling@law.ucla.edu to win a new Emmett Institute notebook!

Photo credit: Jim Culp, Flickr

More than 200 guests gathered for a daylong conference at UCLA Law this month to discuss California's status and future as an environmental pioneer. CARB Chair Mary Nichols delivered a keynote address. See photos and watch video recordings of the sessions.

Photo credit: Reed Hutchinson

Emmett Institute faculty are organizing and participating in events and talks over the next few months:

June 26 - 28 | San Diego, CA
James Salzman will speak on the history of drinking water at an annual meeting of an association dedicated to assuring adequate supplies of high quality water for those living in the arid regions of the United States. Details.

July 9, 2019 | Downtown LA
Sean Hecht will join an expert panel at a Zócalo/UCLA Downtown event to discuss the future of California's coastline. Details/RSVP.

August 5 – 11, 2019 | Banff, Alberta, Canada
The Emmett Institute, in partnership with the Forum for Climate Engineering Assessment, the Solar Radiation Management Governance Initiative, and the Harvard Solar Geoengineering Research Program, will bring together an international group of leading experts with post-graduate students, early-career researchers, and professionals seeking to develop expertise in the field, to facilitate intensive, collaborative explorations of the societal, political, governance, and ethical aspects of geoengineering. Details/RSVP.

October 17 - 20, 2019, Yosemite, CA
Emmett Institute faculty, fellows, staff, and students will participate in the annual gathering of leaders in environmental, land use, and natural resources law. Save the date.

Photo credit: Reed Hutchinson
Daniel Melling writes the Emmett Institute newsletter with editing from Sean Hecht and Cara Horowitz. Please send any feedback to melling@law.ucla.edu .
About the Emmett Institute
The Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment is the country's leading law school center focused on climate change and other critical environmental issues. Founded in 2008 with a generous gift from Dan A. Emmett and his family, the Institute works across disciplines to develop and promote research and policy tools useful to decision makers locally, statewide, nationally and beyond. Our Institute serves as a premier source of environmental legal scholarship, nonpartisan expertise, policy analysis and training.   Learn more.