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.
Our current initiatives focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, advancing the transition to renewable energy, and ensuring clean water for California’s future.
News & Updates
- NEW! Hiring: E&E Program Administrator. CLEE is seeking to hire a Program Administrator to join our team and support a variety of research and student activities. Details here.
- Mapping least-conflict lands for solar PV in the San Joaquin Valley. CLEE and partners worked with a wide range of stakeholders to develop a process to answer one question: from your perspective, where are the least-conflict lands for solar PV development in the Valley?
- Understanding citizen enforcement related to sanitary sewer overflows (SSOs) in California. A new report, motivated by widely divergent stakeholder perceptions, examines the nature and impacts of SSO-related citizen enforcement actions over the past two decades.
- Identifying key barriers to innovation in California urban water. A new article surveys managers to examine the key causes of the slow rate of innovation in urban water management in California. (Subscription required to access article; or email Mike Kiparsky)
- Empowering local decision-makers and stakeholders as they design groundwater management institutions. A new report provides a framework of key criteria to help local entities make critical institutional choices in SGMA implementation.
Recent Research
*
Water:
- Citizen Enforcement and Sanitary Sewer Overflows in California (Apr 2016)
- Barriers to Innovation in Urban Wastewater Utilities: Attitudes of Managers in California (Envt’l Mgmt, Mar 2016) [sub. req’d]
- Designing Effective Groundwater Sustainability Agencies: Criteria for Evaluation of Local Governance Options (Mar 2016)
- Beyond User Acceptance: A Legitimacy Framework for Potable Water Reuse in California (ES&T, 2015)
- A Riparian Conservation Network for Ecological Resilience (Biological Conservation, 2015)
- Accelerating Cost-Effective Green Stormwater Infrastructure: Learning from Local Implementation (Feb 2015)
*
Climate Change:
- Powering the Savings: How California Can Tap the Energy Efficiency Potential in Existing Commercial Buildings (Mar 2016)
- Climate Actions for California: Recommendations for Governor Jerry Brown’s Final Term (Dec 2015)
- Planting Fuels: How California Can Boost Local, Low-Carbon Biofuel Production (Dec 2015)
- Moving Dollars: Aligning Transportation Spending With California’s Environmental Goals (Feb 2015)
*
Energy:
- Wasting Opportunities: How to Secure Environmental & Clean Energy Benefits from Municipal Solid Waste Energy Recovery (May 2016)
- The Right to Self-Generate As A Grid-Connected Customer (Energy Bar Assoc., Nov 2015)
- Knowledge is Power: How Improved Energy Data Access Can Bolster Clean Energy Technologies & Save Money (Jan 2015)
- Ex Parte Requirements at the California Public Utilities Commission: A Comparative Analysis and Recommended Changes (Jan 2015)
*
Land Use:
- A Path Forward: Identifying Least-Conflict Solar PV Development in California’s San Joaquin Valley (May 2016)
- Grading California’s Rail Transit Stations (issued by Next 10, Oct 2015)