Environmental Law

“Where once there were forests and fields and wetlands that would soak up the rain, these have been paved over and replaced with surfaces that do not absorb rain,” says Michael Kiparsky, director of the Wheeler Water Institute. Those are hard materials like concrete sidewalks, asphalt roads, and roofs, which funnel runoff into gutters, storm drains, and sewers. 

Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy and the Environment and Daniel Farber, law professor at the Center for Law, Energy and the Environment discuss a proposal by the Biden administration to require all states to track and reduce on-road vehicle greenhouse gas emissions.

“Generally, I think these sort of subnational statements are important, politically and symbolically, because they can help push national governments to more on climate action,” said Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the UC Berkeley School of Law.

“Ideally, you’d see … the Public Utilities Commission, the Air Resources Board and the Energy Commission having a real unified strategy on this, with a clear end date” for natural gas use, said Ethan Elkind, director of the climate program at the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law. That hasn’t happened, at least not publicly, he said, but “you’re starting to see it piecemeal.”

Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment discusses regulations to
ban the sale of diesel trucks by 2040. 

Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses how California will manage an increased demand on the electric grid with persistent heat waves and increased sales of EVs.

Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at UC Berkeley’s Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses how to manage an increased demand on the electric grid as sales of EVs increases.

“Housing policy often gets lost in climate discussions, but this is actually one of the best ways that we can reduce emissions,” said Ethan Elkind, a law professor and climate expert at the University of California, Berkeley. 

Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment, discusses California’s plans to phase out sales of new gas-powered cars by 2035.

California historically leads the way regarding emissions due to a carve-out in the US Clean Air Act, according to Ethan Elkind, director of the Climate Program at the Center for Law, Energy & the Environment at UC Berkeley Law. It is the only state in the US that can make emissions standard mandates beyond the federal government’s. But the law also permits other US states to adopt California’s standards without the federal government’s approval, Elkind said.