We are marking a few important milestones this year: 10 years of the Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment, 10 years of our blog
Legal Planet
, and 25 years of our Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic. More importantly, we are better positioned than ever to serve students, the profession, and our community through rigorous analysis and training. We launched a new
specialization in environmental law
this year, added
outstanding faculty
, and continue to engage with lawmakers to safeguard public health and the environment. We hope you enjoy this roundup of our work.
—
Sean Hecht
and
Cara Horowitz
, co-executive directors, Emmett Institute
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NEW RESOURCES TO DELIVER ON OUR MISSION
With a major gift and matching challenge from the Emmett Foundation announced this spring, the Emmett Institute is bolstering its work on teaching, research, and advancing climate and environment solutions.
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In May 2018, UCLA Law
announced
a $4.3 million gift and major matching opportunity from the Emmett Foundation to expand the Emmett Institute's cutting-edge policy, research, and advocacy work, as well as its support for students and graduates.
"The Emmett Institute is addressing our unprecedented environmental challenges at a time when the federal government is retreating from its role as a responsible steward,"
Dan Emmett
said. "Our goal is to see the institute continue to develop innovative solutions and produce advocates dedicated to advancing responsible environmental policy."
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Ralph '53 and Shirley Shapiro donated $1 million to the Emmett Institute this year.
Half of that amount, dedicated to fund Emmett Institute work, will be matched by the Emmett Foundation as part of Dan and Rae Emmett’s matching challenge. The other $500,000 will go to the
Ann Carlson Discretionary Fund, also in support of the Emmett Institute
. The Emmett Foundation has generously agreed to match the Shapiros’ gift to support the
Carlson Fund
, meaning the overall value of the gift is $2 million.
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William Boyd, one of the nation's leading scholars of energy and environmental law,
joins the UCLA faculty
as both a member of the Emmett Institute and at the Institute of the Environment and Sustainability.
Boyd has written pathbreaking articles on public utilities; the history and role of risk regulation and analysis in American health, safety, and environmental law; the emergence of forestry resources in international climate policy; and the role of science and technology in environmental law. Two of his articles have been selected as among the top five environmental law articles for the year in which they were published. Boyd's book,
The Slain Wood: Papermaking and its Environmental Consequences in the American South
, received the 2016 Edelstein Prize from the Society for the History of Technology.
Boyd also serves as project lead for the
Governor's Climate and Forests Task Force
, a consortium of 38 subnational jurisdictions around the world to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and land use. Boyd is teaching courses in energy and environmental law and policy for both law and undergraduate students at UCLA. Previously, Boyd was a professor at the University of Colorado School of Law.
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UCLA School of Law
offers
new specialization in environmental law.
The specialization rewards students with deep interest in environmental law, provides a structure for enhanced individual counseling of students, and helps graduates join the many UCLA Law alumni who have gone on to leadership roles in the profession. Students who fulfill
the requirements
receive notations on their diplomas and transcripts.
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Julia Stein joins UCLA Law as clinical supervising attorney of the
Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic
and project director for the Emmett Institute.
Stein co-teaches our clinic and augments our advocacy efforts through litigation, policy work and legislative advocacy. A graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, Stein has nearly a decade of experience in private practice, serves on the executive committee for the Environmental Section of the California Lawyers Association and is editor-in-chief of the Section's publication,
Environmental Law News
.
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The Emmett Institute now has 15 environmental law and policy experts working on scholarship, policy analysis, and student training.
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OUR FACULTY:
- William Boyd, Professor of Law
- Ann E. Carlson, Shirley Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law; Faculty Co-Director, Emmett Institute
- Timothy Malloy, Professor of Law; Faculty Director, UCLA Sustainable Technology and Policy Program
- Edward A. Parson, Dan and Rae Emmett Professor of Environmental Law; Faculty Co-Director, Emmett Institute
- James Salzman, Donald Bren Distinguished Professor of Environmental Law
- Alex Wang, Professor of Law
- Jonathan M. Zasloff, Professor of Law
- Sean B. Hecht, Co-Executive Director, Emmett Institute; Evan Frankel Professor of Policy and Practice
- Cara Horowitz, Andrew Sabin Family Foundation Co-Executive Director, Emmett Institute
- Julia Stein, Clinical Supervising Attorney and Project Manager
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OUR FELLOWS AND STAFF:
- Nicholas Bryner, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, 2016-2018 *in summer 2018, Bryner joined the faculty of LSU Law
- Meredith Hankins, Shapiro Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, 2017-2019
- Harjot Kaur, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, 2018-2020
- Garrett Lenahan, Sustainability Law and Policy Fellow, 2018 -2019
- Nathaniel Logar, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, 2017-2019
- Daniel Melling, Communications and Events Manager
- Jesse Reynolds, Emmett/Frankel Fellow in Environmental Law and Policy, 2018-2020
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OFFERING IDEAS TO GUIDE CALIFORNIA'S CUTTING-EDGE CLIMATE POLICIES
In the last year, Emmett faculty made contributions to our home state's environmental policies, including work on cap-and-trade, governance of climate engineering, and increasing use of low-carbon fuels.
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In March 2018, Ann Carlson was
appointed
by the California Assembly to the Independent Emissions Market Advisory Committee.
Ann recently
testified
before California's Joint Legislative Committee on Climate Change Policies on how the state government should respond to a potential problem of overallocation of credits in its cap-and-trade program.
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Working with Louise Bedworth, deputy director of Governor Brown's Office of Planning and Research, Ted Parson hosted a workshop at UCLA on governance of
climate engineering research
in California.
More than 30 participants from state government, academia, non-profits, and the private sector joined the discussion, to chart a practical path forward on governance for proposed studies on solar geoengineering.
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In a June 2018
Pritzker Brief
, Emmett Institute researchers offered guidance for California policymakers to address challenges for the state's Low Carbon Fuel Standard
, an innovative policy that has generated large expansions of alternative fuel supply and significant reductions in overall carbon intensity in California's fuel markets.
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TRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL LEADERS
At the core of the Emmett Institute's mission is our work to prepare students for leadership in environmental law. This year we've added teaching capacity with William Boyd and Julia Stein. Our new environmental law specialization gives students recognition for their academic work. Outside the classroom, students are volunteering at non-profits, organizing talks, designing business models, and taking on externships that build skills and experience.
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In the
Frank G. Wells Environmental Law Clinic
this past academic year, Sean Hecht and Meredith Hankins led 12 students on multiple projects
, including a high-profile matter involving liability of fossil fuel companies for climate change-related harms, a U.S. Supreme Court amicus brief on behalf of prominent scientists in an important Endangered Species Act case, and a comment letter to the Department of Interior, on behalf of Oceana and other advocacy groups, opposing federal plans to increase offshore oil drilling. This year marks the 25
th
year that UCLA Law has offered this flagship course in our environmental law curriculum.
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Environmental law students earned scholarships and awards for campus leadership, public service, and entrepreneurship:
- In spring 2018, UCLA Law received a gift to establish the David Hayes Award, named for the prominent environmental lawyer and former deputy secretary of the Department of the Interior. Five students were awarded the scholarship this year for showing promise to contribute to the field of environmental law.
- The Environmental Law Society was honored as Student Organization of the Year at UCLA Law's 2018 Student Leadership Breakfast with recognition for its emphasis on social justice, diversity, engagement, and partnership with other organizations at UCLA Law.
- Emmett Institute students earned awards at a UCLA Law public service awards ceremony in April: Emmett scholarship recipient Stephano Medina '20 won a student award and Beth Kent '18, won a student award for her work as president of the Environmental Law Society.
- Mac Kennedy '18, and Mary Vu '18, won first place in the Lowell Milken Institute-Sandler Prize for New Entrepreneurs for a device that reduces the harmful environmental impact of bus emissions. With a total of $100,000 at stake, the LMI-Sandler Prize is the largest entrepreneurship competition at any U.S. law school.
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In the 2017-18 academic year, the Environmental Law Society hosted three speakers to discuss environmental justice in practice:
- Oscar Espino-Padron '11, associate attorney, Earthjustice
- Ramya Sivasubramanian, staff attorney, Natural Resources Defense Council
- Geneva Thompson '16 (pictured), staff attorney, Wishtoyo Foundation
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The Emmett Institute supported student summer internships in 2018:
- Mindy Jian '20 at LA Waterkeeper
- Rose Rushing '19 at Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment
- Tyler Shegerian '20 at Environmental Defense Fund
- Sunjana Superkar '19 at Earthjustice
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Selected recent alumni have kicked off careers in environmental law:
- Angus Beverly '17, Sohagi Law Group
- Shannon Clark '17, California Attorney General's Honors Program
- Danika Desai '18, Oceana
- Anna Fero '17, Paul Hastings
- Amy Foo '18, Surfrider Foundation
- Rica Garcia '17, Shute Mihaly & Weinberger
- Beth Kent '18, L.A. Neighborhood Land Trust
- Hallie Kutak '18, California Attorney General's Honors Program
- Garrett Lenahan '17, Sustainability Law and Policy Fellow, Emmett Institute
- Lani Maher '17, Sonoma County CROWN Fellow
- Julia Nick '17, California State Water Resources Control Board
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DEFENDING FEDERAL ENVIRONMENTAL SAFEGUARDS
The Trump administration has attempted to curtail federal regulations protecting public health and the environment, with new proposals for rolling back rules on pollution from vehicles, power plants, oil and gas production, federal lands, and more. Emmett Institute faculty are opposing these regulatory retreats and are explaining their far-reaching implications.
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Emmett Institute faculty explained the legal and policy flaws in EPA's proposal to weaken vehicle emission standards.
- Ann Carlson blogged on the proposal's legal weaknesses and told NPR, The New York Times and other outlets that California is prepared to push back.
- Carlson, Cara Horowitz, Sean Hecht and Meredith Hankins submitted a comment letter supporting action by California Air Resources Board to maintain the current stringency of California's vehicle emission program in the face of attempted weakening at the federal level.
- In an op-ed for The Washington Post, Ann Carlson and Cara Horowitz called EPA's proposal to weaken federal vehicle efficiency standards Trump's "biggest assault yet on the environment."
- Meredith Hankins joined an EPA/NHTSA hearing in Fresno, CA in September to deliver testimony pointing out legal weaknesses in the administration's proposal.
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On behalf of 68 environmental and administrative law professors, Julia Stein and Sean Hecht filed a
comment letter
urging EPA to withdraw the misleadingly-named "Strengthening Transparency in Science" proposed rule.
Read
Stein's
Legal Planet
blog post
.
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Emmett Institute faculty responded to the Trump administration's proposed replacement for the Clean Power Plan, which regulates greenhouse gas emissions from existing power plants.
- Emmett faculty submitted a comment letter to EPA with and on behalf of five electric grid experts. The authors argue that the Clean Power Plan harnesses the unique features of the electric grid and is consistent with the twin aims of the grid: power reliability and affordability for all consumers.
- Ann Carlson called out the contradictions between EPA's arguments justifying its vehicles and power plant proposals in E&E News: "There is a deep hypocrisy in providing states with significant power to decide whether to regulate greenhouse cases in the context of power plants while eliminating the right of states to do so for automobiles [...] the motivation is consistent - to limit the regulation of carbon pollution."
- Meredith Hankins blogged and spoke to reporters on changes to New Source Review in EPA's proposal that would let the country's most-polluting power plants live longer and avoid upgrades that would protect public health. Hankins informed coverage in The New York Times, The New Republic, Vox, Utility Dive and others.
- Sean Hecht wrote in Legal Planet about how EPA's own analysis of its power plant proposal predicts harmful health impacts. The Washington Post ed board cited Hecht's post in its editorial on how the plan would result in 1,400 premature deaths of Americans every year by 2030.
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In April 2018, Sean Hecht joined a group of environmental law professors in a
comment letter
noting major legal
problems with the Bureau of Land Management's proposal to revoke a rule
restricting methane emissions from oil and gas development on federal lands.
After Interior finalized the rule,
Julia Stein
wrote in
Legal Planet
about how the new regulation prioritizes industry interests over environmental protection.
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Sean Hecht and Nick Bryner responded to President Trump's proclamations in December 2017 downsizing Bears Ears National Monument and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
, writing in
The Conversation
that "the president's action is illegal and will likely be overturned in court." Bryner also penned
Legal Planet
posts to
preview
and
analyze
the proclamations.
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ADDRESSING NATIONAL CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW ISSUES
Several important national issues have garnered engagement from Emmett Institute faculty this year, including a spate of lawsuits by cities and counties against oil companies for climate damages, a Supreme Court case on the Endangered Species Act, and lessons for the future of U.S. energy policy.
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Emmett Institute faculty have closely followed developments in new lawsuits in which cities and counties across the country have sued oil companies for climate damages.
At
an event
hosted by the Emmett Institute and Union of Concerned Scientists in January at UCLA Fowler Museum, more than 150 participants heard perspectives on the lawsuits from elected officials
Assemblywoman Cristina Garcia
, CA 58th Assembly District, and
Mayor Serge Dedina
of Imperial Beach, CA; author and environmentalist
Bill McKibben
;
and a panel featuring experts from
California Environmental Justice Alliance,
UCLA and UCS. UCS president
Ken Kimmell '87
provided closing remarks.
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Our environmental law clinic filed an
amicus brief
in the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of a group of world-class scientists including E.O. Wilson, Stuart Pimm, and UCLA's Brad Shaffer. Sean Hecht
authored the brief with significant assistance from two clinic students,
Jen Garlock '19
and
Heejin Hwang '19
. In the brief, Hecht and the clinic students argue the Court should not gut the habitat protections of the Endangered Species Act. On October 1, Hecht attended oral arguments and spoke on
a post-argument panel at Georgetown Law
.
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In coordination with the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, Ann Carlson and Dallas Burtraw of Resources for the Future convened a workshop at UCLA Law to address lessons from the Clean Air Act for the future of U.S. energy policy.
More than 30 participants from government, academia, the private sector, and NGOs held a robust conversation about next steps in energy policy.
Mary Nichols (pictured)
, chair of California Air Resources Board and Emmett Institute board member, provided a keynote address and
William Boyd
also presented. Carlson serves on an AAAS panel studying the future of America's energy systems and with Burtraw is co-authoring a book,
Lessons from the Clean Air Act
, including a chapter from Boyd.
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Fifteen environmental law professors from around the country joined the Early Stages Environmental Law Workshop in Santa Barbara this August.
The workshop has been hosted at the University of Colorado for the last decade. This year
James Salzman
hosted the meeting at the Bren School of the Environment at UC Santa Barbara, with junior and senior scholars presenting early works in progress.
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LEADING THE WAY TO CARBON NEUTRALITY AT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA
The University of California faces substantial challenges to reach its ambitious target to reach net zero carbon emissions from the system's 10 campuses by 2025. With new research, committee work and public events, Emmett faculty and fellows have been among the leaders of this initiative.
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In 2016, UC President Napolitano asked Ann Carlson to chair a new task force, the Carbon Neutrality Finance and Management Task Force
, to examine and make recommendations on strategies to hit the system's carbon neutrality target. The task force issued a
report
in August 2017.
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In an April 2018
Pritzker Brief
, Julia Forgie and Ann Carlson argue that for UC to achieve its climate goal, campus leaders will need to focus on organizational behavior, communications strategy and operations management.
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In September at UC Berkeley, Ann Carlson welcomed more than 80 guests for
an affiliate event
of the Global Climate Action Summit to
discuss
how the UC system and other large organizations' are working towards their carbon neutrality targets.
Berkeley Chancellor
Carol Christ
gave opening remarks and panel speakers included
Carlson
and representatives from
Kaiser Permanente, Microsoft, UC Berkeley, UC Global Climate Leadership Council, and
UC Office of the President.
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SUPPORTING ACTION ON LOS ANGELES CLIMATE AND AIR POLLUTION GOALS
Los Angeles faces significant challenges to achieve long-term sustainability in water, energy, and biodiversity. Emmett Institute faculty are collaborating with local officials, community advocates, and businesses to help chart a path for LA to reach its climate and environment goals.
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A
UCLA Law/Berkeley Law conference
in June 2018 addressed questions around zero-emission freight at Southern California's ports.
More than 150 participants joined the event to hear from keynote speaker
Mary Nichols
and representatives from government, industry and community advocacy groups. Read
a report
from
Ethan Elkind
and
Nat Logar
.
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In September, the Emmett Institute hosted
an event
on sustainability in Los Angeles and other global megacities as part of the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco.
More than 50 guests gathered at the offices of Paul Hastings for the discussion.
State Sen. Ben Allen
, whose 26th Senate district includes Westwood, Santa Monica and the South Bay, provided opening remarks and joined a panel moderated by
Cara Horowitz
with experts from Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, the University of Canberra, and UCLA.
Anna Fero '17
arranged the venue.
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Emmett Institute faculty are on a team of researchers assisting Los Angeles County with its first
sustainability plan
.
Nat Logar, Harjot Kaur,
and
Sean Hecht
are contributing research to this initiative, which will deliver a final plan in 2019 to address water and energy use, equity, transportation, housing, biodiversity and more.
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ENGAGING ON ISSUES IN INTERNATIONAL LAW
The latest IPCC report has renewed attention and a sense of urgency this year for advancing climate and environment solutions in all jurisdictions. This year, Emmett Institute faculty studied and engaged on international environmental issues including climate engineering governance, water governance, land management, multilateral agreements, Chinese environmental policy, and more.
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In September, William Boyd organized a two-day meeting of the
Governors' Climate and Forests Task Force
(GCF), a collaboration of 38 states and provinces from several countries seeking to protect tropical forests.
During the meeting in San Francisco, GCF members representing millions of indigenous peoples across Peru, Colombia, Ecuador, Indonesia, and Brazil voted in unanimous approval of
principles
recognizing the role of indigenous peoples and local communities in conserving forests and managing land to meet climate goals. Boyd is project lead for the task force.
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In May 2017, the Emmett Institute announced
a new project
to study the governance of climate engineering technologies. Ted Parson is directing the three-year project, funded by a grant from the Open Philanthropy Project, with research into law and policy issues around climate engineering
, including risks posed by small-scale research, interactions between climate engineering and other parts of climate policy, and capabilities needed for peaceful, competent, and prudent control of future proposals for climate engineering deployment. This summer,
Jesse Reynolds
joined us
as an Emmett/Frankel Fellow to help address these issues. Reynolds was previously an assistant professor at the Utrecht Center for Water, Oceans and Sustainability Law, Utrecht University and a lecturer at Tilburg University, both in The Netherlands.
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Cara Horowitz and UCLA Law students traveled to Bonn, Germany, in December 2017 for the 23rd UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) Conference of the Parties
. At the COP,
Sunjana Supekar '19
,
Eric Sezgen '19
, and
Alexandra Gay '19
worked with
Islands First
, an organization dedicated to advancing the interests of small island developing states in climate negotiations.
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Alex Wang published new analysis this spring assessing China's environmental laws.
In
Ecology Law Quarterly
, Wang explains why the Chinese government has opened data on pollution to the public and what this means for officials on the ground. In
Environmental Law
, Wang argues that China's reform process - including environmental reforms - influence public views of state legitimacy. In February, Wang
spoke
about China's pollution controls at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C.
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A March 2018
paper in
Nature Sustainability
from James Salzman is the first global survey of payments for ecoystem services programs
, in which people pay landholders to support natural systems that provide benefits like flood protection, biodiversity and carbon storage. With co-authors from Ecosystem Marketplace, Salzman
finds
more than 550 payments for ecosystem services programs active worldwide with more than $36 billion in annual transactions.
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Ann Carlson and Alex Wang, fellows Harjot Kaur and Garrett Lenahan, and Alexandra Gay '19
participated
in the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco this September
, joining more than 4,000 delegates for plenary sessions.
Ann Carlson
appeared on stage representing the University of California as part of the We Are Still In coalition.
Wang
engaged with delegates from China at the China Pavilion, co-sponsored by China's Ministry of Ecology & Environmental Protection.
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FACULTY PUBLICATIONS
In the last academic year, Emmett Institute faculty have published new research in leading law and science journals, reports in our Pritzker Environmental Law and Policy Brief series, commentary in major media publications, and more.
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James Salzman:
Daniel C. Esty & James Salzman,
Rethinking NAFTA: Deepening the Commitment to Sustainable Development
,
in
A Path Forward for NAFTA
125 (Fred Bergsten & Monica de Bolle ed., 2017).
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Sean Hecht:
Jordan Diamond, Holly Doremus, Mae Manupipatpong, Richard Frank, Shauna Oh, Sean Hecht, Deborah Sivas, Matt Armsby & Jocelyn Herbert,
The Past, Present, and Future of California’s Coastal Act: Overcoming Division to Comprehensively Manage the Coast
, UC Berkeley Center for Law, Energy & The Environment (2017).
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Comment Letters/Testimony:
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