Category: Environment

Category: Environment Archive for category: Environment Former U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler brought a message of resiliency and resolve to more than 400 scholars, students, community leaders, and elected officials who came together at UCLA last week to take on California’s most entrenched problems. “Too many Californians, too many Angelenos, are not OK,” Butler told the crowd gathered for the eighth annual UCLA Luskin Summit on April 15. But she added, “The people in this room, the communities that you serve, have already proven that change is possible. … “I keep returning to this one thing that sustains me: It’s that hope is not a joyful feeling. Hope, UCLA, is hard work.” Butler, who served as a labor leader, political advisor and UC regent before joining the U.S. Senate in 2023 to complete the term of the late Dianne Feinstein, delivered the keynote address following a morning centered on strengthening resilience and equity at the local level. Sharing Research and Solutions Researchers from the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs teamed up with difference-makers in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors to share the latest advances in four areas of concern: California’s housing strategy, including the state’s new zoning rules aimed at making shelter more affordable Environmental health and justice, including the impact of extreme heat as L.A. hosts a series of mega-events, and the toll plastic pollution takes on vulnerable communities Transportation security, including new strategies for elevating security, trust, and comfort among public transit riders Socioeconomic vulnerability, including strategies to bridge intergenerational inequities, and regulatory tools that can be used to promote more inclusive growth Launched in 2019, the UCLA Luskin Summit provides a bridge between academia, policymakers, and civil society, with the goal of finding evidence-based solutions to California’s most pressing concerns. This year’s gathering highlighted recent research from the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies , and departments of Public Policy Social Welfare , and Urban Planning Master of Urban Planning student O’Philia Le said she chose to attend the summit to learn how UCLA Luskin research is put into practice in the world. “A key takeaway for me was that large-scale racial justice and global environmental impacts really start with local solutions. However, those solutions don’t just happen on their own,” she said. “They require political pressure, community engagement, and an intentional push to actually move forward. As an aspiring planner, I believe that this is key to the work that we do.” From left, ABC7’s Josh Haskell, Miguel Santana of the California Community Foundation, and Zev Yaroslavsky of UCLA Luskin’s Los Angeles Initiative review results from the 2026 Quality of Life Index. Photo by Michael Troxell Quality of Life Index Reveals Growing Strain The summit also hosted the release of this year’s UCLA Quality of Life Index (QLI), a project of the Luskin School’s Los Angeles Initiative, directed by Zev Yaroslavsky . The survey found that Los Angeles County residents’ satisfaction with their lives has hit the lowest level in the QLI’s 11-year history. “We’ve been through a lot in the last five years: COVID; punishing increases in the cost of living; last year’s catastrophic fires, the worst natural disaster in the history of this city; tariffs; and this year the destabilizing implementation of the Trump administration’s immigration sweeps, which started right here in our own back yard,” he said. “All of these have taken their toll on virtually every aspect of our lives in every part of our region.” Cost of living continues to be the single biggest driver of residents’ quality of life, though its rating declined from 2025, according to the survey. Among the 1,400 Los Angeles County residents polled in March, housing affordability remained the dominant concern, while rising costs for utilities, groceries, and taxes were cited more frequently than in prior years. Ratings fell across nearly every category compared with last year, with six areas reaching their lowest levels since the survey began in 2016: education, transportation and traffic, jobs and the economy, public safety, neighborhood conditions, and relations among different races, ethnicities, and religions. A Call to Action for the Next Generation In her remarks, Butler also addressed the sobering results of the QLI. “Every year the Quality of Life Index holds up a mirror to Los Angeles County,” she said. “And every year, it asks us to be brave enough to look in that mirror.” She stressed, however, that “alongside every data point of strain, there’s a counter story, one that doesn’t get enough attention — the story that happens when people organize, when coalitions hold, when accountability is real.” To the service-minded students in the room, she issued a call to action, echoing the summit’s theme of empowering local communities. Some of them would go to Washington and some to Sacramento, where they are desperately needed, she said. “But some of you — hear me — need to go to places that don’t make headlines. To neighborhoods where the data actually lives, to communities where the stakes are immediate, not to study them but to be accountable to them. … “The communities most impacted by vulnerability are also most engaged in building solutions. … Survival demands participation.” UCLA Luskin professor Veronica Herrera introduces a session on plastic pollution before a standing-room-only audience. Photo by Mary Braswell View more photos from the 2026 UCLA Luskin Summit on Flickr. The UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation has released a new report examining the links between plastics, fossil fuels and inequitable exposure to environmental hazards. Titled “ What Defines a Plastic-Burdened Community? — Part II ,” the report is authored by Veronica Herrera and Daniel Coffee The analysis highlights how communities located near refinery infrastructure face disproportionate exposure to pollution, despite California’s reputation for climate leadership. Emissions from fossil fuel drilling and refining have been linked to respiratory and cardiovascular disease, adverse birth outcomes and increased cancer risk. These impacts fall most heavily on Latino and Black residents, who are more likely to live in neighborhoods closest to refineries. The report also points to the Plastic Pollution Mitigation Fund established under Senate Bill 54 as a potential tool to reduce health harms and prevent plastic-burdened communities from being treated as sacrifice zones. A recent study led by UCLA associate professor of urban planning Kristen Schwarz highlights the lack of shade on California’s K‑12 school campuses, exposing students to extreme heat during outdoor activities. Analyzing over 7,200 urban public schoolyards from 2018 to 2022, the team found that 85% of schools lost tree canopy, with a median coverage of just 6.4%. L.A. Times reports that many of these schools lack adequate tree cover and children, whose abilities to regulate body temperature are still developing, are particularly vulnerable when exposed to the intense heat outdoors. This presents a pressing concern as global temperatures continue to rise and give way to dangerous heat waves. “Extreme heat is becoming a major public health concern in California and across the country, and trees can play a really big role in helping us cool down those schools and also build climate resilience,” said Schwarz. To better understand the cooling effect of trees, Schwarz and her team are examining the trees and microclimates of schools across several districts in California. They hope their findings will inform policymakers and promote school greening to provide a cooler, safer environment for students in the face of global warming. A team of UCLA master’s students in urban and regional planning (MURP) has produced an extensive report, “ Drought and Climate Resiliency Solutions for Small Water Systems in Los Angeles County ,” offering real-world strategies to strengthen water security and climate resilience. When the January 2025 wildfires swept through Pacific Palisades, a group of MURP students witnessed the devastation unfold in real time on their first day of class. What started as a class project on water system vulnerabilities quickly became a real-world assignment: students, many personally affected by the fires, sprang into action to research and propose solutions that not only addressed the immediate impacts of the wildfires but also offered long-term strategies to strengthen water security and climate resilience. Developed in collaboration with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works and guided by faculty at the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, the year-long project examines the vulnerabilities of small water systems, many of which were directly impacted by the L.A. wildfires, and proposes solutions to ensure safe and reliable drinking water for fire-impacted communities across Los Angeles County. The twelve-student research team included Alex Sun, Allison Samsel, Aydin Pasebani, Catherine Ren, Chloe Curry, Dana Choi, Emily Cadena, Leo Blain, Leila Moinpour, Nasir Sakandar, Veronica De Santos, and Will Callan. They conducted in-depth analyses on drought risk, wildfire impacts, and system preparedness, culminating in a professional presentation of their findings. Their work is already informing county and state-wide efforts to advance the human right to water and shape long-term climate resilience strategies. “This work by our student team will serve to directly inform real-time L.A. County and California state agency efforts to ensure a human right to water in the region,” said Greg Pierce , UCLA professor of urban planning, Luskin Center for Innovation senior director, and director of the Human Rights to Water Solutions Lab who co-advised the report. “The methodologies developed on drought water shortage risk and fire vulnerability also have wide applicability well beyond the county.” Edith de Guzman , adjunct professor of urban planning and water equity and adaptation policy cooperative extension specialist at Luskin Center for Innovation was another co-advisor on the project and underscored the importance of the students’ work. “This project benefited greatly from the hard work, diligence, and nimbleness of a dozen MURP students,” de Guzman said. “In the end, the result is an impressive suite of actionable assessments, analyses, and findings — all painstakingly documented.” A key emphasis of the report is the feasibility of water system consolidation, an approach that can improve technical and financial stability for struggling utilities. Alongside consolidation, the report also considers alternative strategies such as water conservation, new well development, and recycling projects. “This suite of outcomes contributes innovative new guidance in understudied and largely unregulated spaces — including community water system fire risk and preparedness,” said de Guzman. Pierce praised the students’ work following the capstone presentation: “You did amazing work that culminated in a professional presentation that demonstrates real solutions for climate resiliency in small water systems. But at its core, this report is about water access as a human right. You should all be very proud.” The findings are a partial preview of the Southern California Community Water Systems Guide, which will be released by Luskin Center for Innovation in late Summer 2025. This guide will present performance data on all community water systems in Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, San Bernardino, and Riverside counties, building on analyses completed in 2015 and 2020, which focused only on Los Angeles County. Jennifer Gorman MPP ’26 reflects on her summer with American Honda Motor Co.’s Hydrogen Solutions Team, where she gained firsthand insight into how corporations, policymakers, and implementers collaborate to advance clean energy solutions. Where are you working this summer and what are your primary responsibilities or focus areas day-to-day? This summer I interned at American Honda Motor Co. on their Hydrogen Solutions Team within the Sustainable Business Development Unit. One of my main projects was a market validation analysis, where I mapped regulatory requirements, reviewed decarbonization plans across California, and interviewed potential public sector offtakers to help Honda assess fuel cell market demand and shape its commercialization strategy. I also created a workforce development strategy for internal use to guide the company’s efforts to build a skilled workforce capable of servicing its fuel cells. Together, these projects helped Honda better understand where demand for fuel cells is strongest and how to support the workforce needed to scale its hydrogen business. What’s one insight or perspective you’ve gained that surprised you, shifted your thinking, or changed how you approach public policy? Through conversations with transit agencies, cities, and energy service providers, I realized how critical it is to include implementers in policy design. Too often, policies are developed at a high level without fully accounting for the realities faced by those responsible for executing them. For instance, California’s Innovative Clean Transit rule requires transit agencies to purchase 100% zero-emissions buses by 2029, but currently, only one zero-emissions bus model meets the range needed for most routes. Engaging implementers can reveal practical challenges and opportunities that aren’t apparent from a pure policy or analytical perspective. Policymaking must be a collaborative process that integrates the expertise of those who will bring policies to life on the ground. As a policy student, what insights have you gained about how large companies like Honda navigate government regulations, environmental standards, or energy policy? Working at Honda showed me that corporate sustainability strategy isn’t just about following regulations; it’s also about anticipating policy trends to guide strategic planning and investments. Companies actively advocate for policies and programs that align with their business goals, monitor emerging standards, evaluate potential market opportunities, and plan technology and workforce development accordingly. This experience gave me a new perspective on how policy impacts real-world outcomes: it shapes the pace of innovation, and the practical steps companies take to implement cleaner energy solutions. Any advice for peers seeking similar internships or career paths? Don’t be afraid to explore careers or internships beyond the traditional government or nonprofit paths. The private sector plays a critical role as both an advocate and implementer in policy processes. Experiencing policy from this perspective can reveal how decisions are put into practice, how incentives shape behavior, and ultimately how change happens. These insights can help you become a more thoughtful and effective policy practitioner in any context. Margaret Saunders, a Master of Public Policy student at UCLA Luskin, spent her summer with NASA’s DEVELOP program researching how California’s redwood forests are impacted by and recover from wildfires, using Earth observation data to inform environmental understanding and policy. What organization or agency are you working with this summer, and what are your primary responsibilities day‑to‑day? This summer, I participated in the NASA DEVELOP program. DEVELOP is part of NASA’s Earth Sciences Division’s Earth Action program and works with participants and partner organizations to address important environmental issues using NASA Earth Observations. Throughout the course of 10 weeks, our team has been working remotely to conduct a research project which assesses how redwood forests are impacted by wildfires in Santa Cruz, California and investigate how they recover after fires. Day to day, myself and my team are using Earth observations to investigate this issue and creating science communications to explain our findings! Which Luskin course, concept, or skill have you found yourself using the most so far—or what public policy concepts and theories have you seen up close and personal? During my first year in the Luskin Public Policy program, I learned how to use RStudio for policy-related work. Seeing how this is used for Earth Observations has reinforced how vital this tool is for addressing a range of environmental concerns. Working with partner organizations has been particularly valuable, as it has given me in-depth insight into the impact of fires on redwood forests, people, and the economy—crucial issues for policy. How has this experience shaped your career goals or next steps at Luskin? Any advice for peers seeking similar internships or research opportunities? This experience has had a huge impact on my career goals. It has always been important to me to pursue work that makes a difference to people and the planet, and seeing the impact DEVELOP projects can have on real organizations and communities has reinforced that goal. From a skills perspective, experiencing the technical side of this work has shown me a new way to achieve this goal and the program has built my skillset massively. For anyone who is passionate about environmental change and wants to expand their skillset my advice is to seek and say yes to opportunities that challenge you and expose you to new environmental concerns because that is where the most growth happens. Every new experience expands both your skills and your network which helps you to develop personally and professionally! How has working on Earth science and geospatial projects with NASA DEVELOP shaped your perspective on the role of data in driving policy decisions, and has it influenced your future career goals? Data is vital for policy decisions. While NASA DEVELOP doesn’t prescribe policy, working on this project has shown me how using data to highlight issues can provide important guidance for decision-making. In particular, data and maps are a great tool for visualizing a problem or providing a holistic yet detailed view of a situation. In a policy context, data makes the background for policy issues accessible for a range of people across different fields and areas of expertise which is important for making decisions that support all relevant stakeholders! An article published in the Los Angeles Times quotes Edith de Guzman, a climate researcher at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation, highlighting how rising temperatures are undermining students’ ability to learn—particularly in underserved communities. A comprehensive review, analyzing data from 14.5 million students across 61 countries, found that heat exposure reduces cognitive performance, especially in complex subjects like math. Even moderately warm days, between 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, impair students’ attention, memory, and focus. Heat doesn’t affect all students equally. Black, Latino, and low-income students experience up to three to four times more learning loss from heat exposure compared to white and affluent peers. This disparity is largely due to inequalities in infrastructure—many under-resourced schools lack adequate air conditioning, shade, or green space, making classrooms unbearably hot during warmer months. “As classroom temperatures rise over time — especially during extended heat waves or in schools with less shade, poorer insulation and lacking access to air conditioning — students tend to show declines in attention, memory and test performance,” said Edith de Guzman, a climate researcher at UCLA’s Luskin Center for Innovation . Heat can also affect students’ abilities to enjoy outdoor recreational activities, having serious effects on their physical, mental and social well-being, she said. The study also found that these effects are cumulative, with heat exposure throughout the school year having a greater impact on learning than just exam-day temperatures. Simple solutions—such as air conditioning, improved ventilation, and increasing tree canopy around schools—can dramatically reduce heat-related learning loss. However, many schools lack the funding to implement these upgrades. by Peaches Chung If you’ve ever been stuck in gridlock traffic on the 405 or circled the block looking for parking in L.A., you’ve experienced the kinds of problems Michael Manville has spent years researching and trying to solve. As professor and chair of urban planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs, Manville is reshaping how we think about transportation and housing in a sprawling city like Los Angeles and turning his research into real-world impact. At the center of Manville’s transportation research is a deceptively simple idea: the way we price things matters and how we price things shapes how we use them. ” Driving costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.” “Driving is too cheap, and housing is too expensive,” he says. “Driving isn’t cheap in the absolute sense of the word ‘cheap’ because cars aren’t cheap and gas isn’t free, but in the sense that it costs less than it should, because the full social costs of driving, like congestion, pollution, infrastructure wear, aren’t reflected in what we pay to use our roads.” The price of housing, meanwhile, is driven up by restrictive land-use policies that limit supply. Manville’s first introduction into urban planning began in a newsroom while covering transportation and housing topics as a local reporter. When the newspaper he worked for went bankrupt, he joined the local planning commission. Eager to turn his newfound passion into a career, he enrolled in the urban planning master’s degree program at UCLA and after a summer as a research assistant, decided to pursue a Ph.D. Today, he leads the department that jumpstarted his second career. Building on the groundbreaking work of his mentor Donald Shoup, former UCLA urban planning professor and pioneer in parking reform who famously argued that free or underpriced parking distorts urban development, Manville and many other experts in the field have expanded this logic more broadly, emphasizing that it’s not just parking that’s mispriced, it’s also the roads themselves. One proven strategy to address this is congestion pricing, a transportation policy that charges drivers a fee to use certain roads during peak traffic times. A controversial idea that has gained some traction in recent years, the goal primarily is to improve traffic flow and lower pollution, although it can also generate revenue for public transit and infrastructure. It’s the idea that using roads during peak times should come with a price, just like electricity or water. “We meter every other government-owned utility,” Manville explains, “but not roads.” “It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.” Manville argues that the same basic principle we apply to everything else in our economy, pricing goods and services based on demand, should also apply to road usage. We meter every other government-owned utility, but not our roads. It’s the only system that we don’t charge prices for, and it’s not a coincidence that it’s the only system that colossally breaks down about two times a day.” Cities like Singapore prove it can work. In Singapore, dynamic tolling keeps traffic flowing at 45–55 mph even in a city as densely populated as San Francisco. Manville argues that Los Angeles could reap similar benefits if it embraced the idea. “We’ve normalized the dysfunction of our transportation system,” he says. “But there’s nothing inherently fair about free roads, or unfair about charging for their use.” For Manville, reimagining cities isn’t just about policy; it’s about turning research into practical, real-world implementation. At UCLA Luskin, he says, that happens through teaching the next generation of planners, working directly with policymakers, and ensuring research is more accessible to community members. “The biggest impact we can have,” he explains, “is making sure our students leave with the ability to weigh tradeoffs—not chase perfect solutions.” When asked what he hopes for the next generation of urban planners who will be tasked to solve some of the most complicated issues our cities face today, Manville had some wisdom from his own experience as a young planner. “I came to UCLA convinced there were a bunch of right answers,” he reflects. “But the biggest lesson I’ve learned, and hope to pass on, is that progress comes from understanding the nuance and complexity of the issues we hope to solve. In a city as vast and diverse as L.A., differing perspectives are inevitable and real change begins with listening, especially to those you may not agree with.” Dr. Minjee Kim, assistant professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, was featured on the Building Better Cities podcast in the episode titled “Who Rebuilds LA? Planning Post-Fire Recovery with Dr. Minjee Kim.” In the wake of the devastating LA wildfires, Kim presents this disaster as an opportunity to rethink how cities rebuild with long-term resiliency in mind. “The L.A. fires presented the opportunity to think large scale,” she says. “I see the Los Angeles fires that happened as an opportunity to think about urban planning and development in the long term… in terms of resiliency and fire resiliency, but also in terms of what is a good sustainable form of urban development.” In conversation with host Kate Gasparro, Kim discusses how post-disaster recovery can serve as a launchpad for long-term, equitable urban planning—if supported by the right governance structures. Drawing from her research and experience advising the L.A. County Blue Ribbon Commission on post-fire recovery, she explores potential models for regional redevelopment agencies, citing examples from San Francisco, New York City, and Cincinnati. Listen to the podcast here. Los Angeles faces a growing challenge: heat. Record-breaking temperatures, combined with inadequate shade, are making it harder to walk to school, wait for a bus or play sports. Today, ShadeLA launches as a public campaign to raise awareness, spur action and create collaborations that will work to expand tree canopy and shade infrastructure while leaving a safer, more climate-resilient Los Angeles. ShadeLA is led by USC Dornsife Public Exchange in collaboration with UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, with participation by the city of Los Angeles, the county’s Chief Sustainability Office, LA Metro and the Los Angeles Organizing Committee for the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games, or LA28. The world will be watching Los Angeles over the next three years as the region hosts global sporting events like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and Super Bowl LXI, culminating with the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games. ShadeLA plans to leverage this unique window of attention and investments to expand access to shade around communities that need it most, as well as Olympic venue sites and other shade deserts — areas lacking adequate shade — in Los Angeles’ most heat-vulnerable neighborhoods. ShadeLA is structured around four goals, each rooted in research, policy and community engagement: Expand shade through design competitions, new shade concepts and pilot projects Preserve and maintain shade through tree maintenance toolkits and stewardship models Guide the placement of new infrastructure using shade mapping, planning and other tools Inform and mobilize people through community shade planning events, story campaigns and toolkits for residents, businesses and schools “ShadeLA is a powerful example of how UCLA research and collaborations lead to real-world impact,” said UCLA Chancellor Julio Frenk. “This project will greatly benefit communities across Los Angeles — and with the eyes of the world turning to our city in the lead-up to 2028, we have a unique opportunity to showcase what inclusive climate action can achieve.” The campaign is powered by a growing list of community collaborators leading on-the-ground shade projects that help ensure solutions are locally driven and responsive to neighborhood priorities. “For years, USC Dornsife Public Exchange has been leading the way on sustainable urban forestry. Now, we’re proud to be spearheading ShadeLA, an important initiative that leverages our cutting-edge research to improve quality of life for all of us in Los Angeles,” USC interim President Beong-Soo Kim said. Heat is the largest weather-related killer facing Los Angeles, especially its vulnerable populations. A key solution: shade. It is one of the most effective, low-cost ways to reduce heat risk. Whether from a tree, canopy, awning or bus shelter, shaded areas can drop the “feels-like” temperature by 35 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit (or 20 to 40 degrees Celsius). It is simple, scalable and can be integrated into everyday spaces where people live, learn, work and play. Los Angeles County has less shade than the national average. Urbanized areas of the county have an average of 21% shade at noon compared with the national average of 27%, according to the Luskin Center for Innovation’s national Shade Map, which is part of American Forests’ Tree Equity Score. “We’re at a critical juncture as L.A. gets hotter, and we are thrilled to partner with USC to lead with evidence and to collectively envision a livable future for our region,” said Edith de Guzman, water and adaptation policy cooperative extension specialist at the Luskin Center for Innovation. “ShadeLA is about more than trees and structures — it’s about people,” said Monica Dean, climate and sustainability practice director at USC Dornsife Public Exchange. “This campaign addresses heat not just as an environmental issue, but as a public health, infrastructure and community challenge.” LA28 has pledged to weave shade planning and heat mitigation measures into its planning processes. “LA28 is committed to incorporating sustainable solutions throughout the Games footprint,” said Becky Dale, vice president of sustainability at LA28. “ShadeLA supports not only keeping spectators cool during the Games, but also leaving a legacy of a cooler, greener Los Angeles for all Angelenos.” By expanding shade in coordination with local communities, USC and UCLA aim to model collaborative climate action while creating safer, healthier public spaces for decades to come. The article was originally published on UCLA Newsroom. Read the full article here. Recent Posts The CPUC’s Plans for an Unprecedented Building Decarbonization April 23, 2026 Ong on Asian Surname Growth Trends in the U.S. April 23, 2026 Hope Is Hard Work: Laphonza Butler Delivered Call to Action on Building Power From the Ground Up April 20, 2026 Shane Phillips Weighs In on San Diego’s Proposed Vacancy Tax April 20, 2026 Zev Yaroslavsky Reflects on Declining Quality of Life in Los Angeles Times Report April 17, 2026 Contact UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs 3250 Public Affairs Building - Box 951656 Los Angeles, CA 90095-1656 Campus Resources Maps, Directions, Parking Directory Contact Academic Calendar Careers Diversity University of California Follow The statements on this page represent the views of people affiliated with the Luskin School of Public Affairs and do not necessarily represent the views of the University of California, or UCLA or its Chancellor. 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