Center for Law, Energy & the Environment

The Center for Law, Energy & the Environment (CLEE) channels the expertise of the Berkeley Law community into pragmatic, creative policy solutions to critical environmental and energy challenges.

September 2017

Doubling Energy Efficiency in California’s Existing Buildings: How Will We Finance It?

When: Thursday, September 21, 2017 from 5-7pm
Where: Warren Room (295 Boalt), UC Berkeley School of Law

Join UC Berkeley and UCLA Law for an evening event on energy efficiency retrofit finance at UC Berkeley Law on Thursday, September 21st.

Following up on our 2016  report, Powering the Savings, speakers, including California Energy Commissioner Andrew McAllister, will focus on recent innovations, new policies, and promising success stories on metered energy efficiency that the state can build on to achieve these ambitious and necessary climate and energy goals.

August 2017

Issue Brief: The Next 40 Years of California’s Coastal Act

Drawing from the discussions during our November 2016 symposium, CLEE and our partners have drafted an issue brief outlining key challenges for California’s coastal governance. Using lessons from California history in preserving its coast, The Past, Present, and Future of California’s Coastal Act: Overcoming Division to Comprehensively Manage the Coast identifies key questions we need to answer and begins to chart a course for the next 40 years of Coastal Act implementation.

August 2017

California’s Climate Programs Brought 41,000 Jobs and $9.1 Billion to the Inland Empire

CLEE and our research partners have completed the first comprehensive, academic study of the economic effects of existing climate and clean energy policies in Southern California’s Inland Empire. Together with UC Berkeley’s Center for Labor Research and Education, and working with the nonpartisan nonprofit Next 10, the study, The Net Economic Impacts of California’s Major Climate Programs in the Inland Empire, estimates a net benefit of $9.1 billion in direct economic activity and 41,000 net direct jobs from 2010 to 2016 in the region.

Also see our webinar discussion of these findings.

August 2017

Will Chevron be Overruled? Would it Matter?

Chevron v. NRDC has been central to environmental law and administrative law for years. With an increasingly conservative Supreme Court, some are speculating that Chevron could be overruled, which would have sweeping repercussions.

Writing for the Environmental Law Institute’s Environmental Forum, Professor Dan Farber discusses the likelihood of this happening and what we could expect as a result.  

August 2017

Plugging Away: How to Boost Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

California will need widespread consumer adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) in order to achieve the state’s environmental and energy goals. But achieving these goals will require a significant boost to EV charging infrastructure, particularly in workplaces, multi-unit dwellings, and fast charge “plazas.”

Because charging station installation and maintenance typically entails high costs, with often uncertain revenues, policy action will be required. Our newly released report explores policy solutions to address this challenge.

June 2017

New Report: Can Local Groundwater Markets Help Groundwater Basins Achieve Sustainability?

California’s Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA) opens the door for local groundwater markets, but questions remain about when a local groundwater market might be a useful and appropriate management tool.

Our new report, Trading Sustainably: Critical Considerations for Local Groundwater Markets Under SGMA, outlines a set of considerations designed to help decision makers and stakeholders evaluate whether a local groundwater market might be a viable tool for sustainably managing their groundwater basins and, if so, how to effectively implement it.