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Environmental Law

Commentary
One More Chance for COP Reform
The 28th U.N.-sponsored Conference of the Parties (COP) on climate change looks set to be a replay of earlier COPs. The consistent shortfall in achieving climate goals has meant that the parties to COP discuss the same items year after year. Perhaps it is time for COP to take a new look at its own decisionmaking process?
Nov 30, 2023
Commentary
Budget Models Are Underselling the Benefits of Solving Climate Problems
When Congress considers a new law or spending package, analysts calculate its likely impact on the federal budget. When it comes to climate change legislation, those numbers don't capture the whole picture. Potential savings and other benefits get significantly underestimated.
Nov 15, 2023
Commentary
An Affordable Energy Transition Will Require Supportive and Sensible Regulation
The transition to decarbonize the grid and to electrify end uses to reduce emissions will be challenging, and customer bills may increase in the short term. Regulators can help to keep utilities financially healthy and make a smoother energy transition possible.
Nov 13, 2023
Report
How Climate Change Affects the Federal Budget and Legislation
As climate change drives an increase in costly natural disasters, U.S. policymakers need to consider different mitigation policies. Projecting the effects on federal spending and revenue depends on a model that captures important relationships between climate, federal policy, and the economy.
Sep 27, 2023
Multimedia
What Does Environmental Justice Look Like? Two Case Studies
The RAND Corporation has partnered with community organizations and activists in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and San Diego, California to show how community engagement can contribute to environmental justice for residents affected by neighborhood disinvestment.
Apr 19, 2023
Commentary
California's Ambitious Decarbonization Plan Hasn't Been Future-Proofed
California has an ambitious blueprint to make the state carbon-neutral by 2045. But there's been no integrated stress test of the whole plan. The state needs and deserves a future-proofed, stress-tested plan that all Californians can trust to achieve its climate goals.
Dec 15, 2022
News Release
Disadvantaged Groups Could Fall Further Behind in the Emerging Green Economy
A new report from RAND Europe shows that disadvantaged groups risk being left behind in the growing movement across Europe to increase job opportunities that benefit the environment—or “green the economy”—unless local leaders take concerted action to make sure such job opportunities are more inclusive.
Oct 27, 2022
Report
Green jobs and skills development for disadvantaged groups
This report explored green jobs and skills development for people from disadvantaged groups in 10 European cities.
Oct 26, 2022
Multimedia
Is Los Angeles County Prepared for California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate?
Experts in food recovery discuss findings from a RAND study into Los Angeles County's preparedness for a new law that requires California to significantly reduce organic waste and recover some edible food from going to landfills by 2025.
Jul 18, 2022
Multimedia
Preparing for California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate: Findings from the Los Angeles Food Recovery Study
Under a new state law, California must significantly reduce organic waste and recover some edible food from going to landfill by 2025. Is Los Angeles County prepared for the new mandate?
Jun 21, 2022
Report
California's Edible Food Recovery Mandate: One Solution for Two Problems
Organic waste in landfills emits 20 percent of California's methane, and about 1.1 million tons of potentially donatable food were discarded in 2018. California's food recovery mandate, Senate Bill 1383, could make an important contribution toward mitigating the climate crisis and food insecurity.
Jun 21, 2022
Project
The Risks of Geoengineering
Geoengineering—the intentional manipulation of the climate—could help curb global warming, but it could also have world-altering consequences. In a new animated video, RAND artists-in-residence Juan Delcan and Valentina Izaguirre take a lighthearted look at this serious issue.
Apr 27, 2022
Multimedia
Observed Impacts, Future Risks, and Adaptation Solutions
An overview of testimony by Robert J. Lempert presented before the Minnesota House of Representatives Committee on Climate and Energy Finance and Policy on March 10, 2022.
Apr 13, 2022
Testimony
Impacts, Risks, and Adaptation Solutions to Climate Change
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change brings together scientists from around the world to assess the current state of knowledge regarding climate change, and potential consequences and solutions. Its recent report has a strong focus on adaptation solutions but also describes where adaptation is falling short.
Mar 10, 2022
Commentary
To Help Climate Migrants, We Must First Recognize Them
Despite the large and growing population displaced by extreme weather, there is no common definition of a “climate migrant.” Once we get a clearer sense of just who is a climate migrant, policy efforts should begin focusing on the full fabric of life in our communities, creating systems that will help migrants become a part of that fabric in safe and dignified ways.
Jan 28, 2022
Essay
Manipulating the Climate: What Are the Geopolitical Risks?
Geoengineering technologies that could block the sun's rays or siphon huge amounts of carbon from the air are not that far out of reach. Yet the international community has not established the kinds of guardrails you might expect for potentially world-changing technologies.
Dec 29, 2021
Commentary
Addressing Climate Migration
As the effects of climate change increase in scope and severity, more people will relocate to preserve or enhance their lives and livelihoods. A review of how six countries are managing climate mobility provides options for policymakers considering the needs of climate migrants and their host communities.
Dec 7, 2021
Commentary
Achieving Decarbonization and Energy Equity Through Reconciliation
The past two years have witnessed increasingly vocal calls for rapid decarbonization of the global economy through a clean energy transition. How can Congress ensure that new costs associated with a clean energy transition do not fall disproportionately on lower-income ratepayers?
Sep 9, 2021
Report
Developing the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: An Opportunity to Reduce Risk and Impacts of Future Spills in Freshwater
In 2016, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to establish the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. This report makes recommendations for the center, its staffing, potential partnerships, and location.
Aug 31, 2021
Commentary
What Are the Geopolitical Risks of Geoengineering?
Geoengineering is the intentional manipulation of an environmental process on Earth to counteract the effects of climate change. Geoengineering implementation could introduce geopolitical risks. This raises the question of whether existing international governance mechanisms can manage these risks.
May 25, 2021

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RAND Topic:
Environmental Legislation

Topic Synonyms:
Environmental Law