Climate Policy And 2024 Election

What happens if Trump eliminates the National Weather Service? Can a Harris win temper threats to the EPA from an anti-regulatory Supreme Court? How will the election influence the U.S.' ability to compete with China on clean technology?

Media are encouraged to reach out to request interviews with UCLA experts from atmospheric sciences, climate law and public policy who can all add climate context to election coverage — or election context to climate coverage:

• Post-election climate policy: From "Trump-proofing" California to EV policy to competition with China, UCLA's Emmett Institute on Climate Change and the Environment shared their post-elections projections and predictions in a recent webinar. UCLA environmental law experts Julia Stein, Ann Carlson and Alex Wang joined California State Senator Henry Stern to talk climate policy scenarios after Nov. 5.

• Cutting NOAA: Get details about the likely consequences of the conservative proposal to break up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which includes the National Weather Service. UCLA climate scientist Daniel Swain will hold an election Q&A on Monday, Oct. 28, at 3 p.m. PT, focused on the NWS, the lives it saves, and why it's "one of the most cost-effective tax dollar expenditures in American government." For the risks of Atlantic Ocean current collapse, or AMOC, join Swain Friday for a discussion about a new documentary about AMOC and other climate tipping points.

• Climate via tax law: Republicans hope to roll back the Biden administration's climate-oriented Inflation Reduction Act. The IRA-driven influx of clean jobs in red states won't be enough to stave off conservative dislike of the plan, much like health benefits never translated to Republican appreciation for the Affordable Care Act, says UCLA law professor Kimberly Clausing, previously a top tax official at the U.S. Treasury for the Biden administration. The emissions projected from an all-Republican House, Senate and White House add up to hundreds to thousands of metric tons of CO2 by 2040, she explains in a brief (full version is here).

• Partisan disaster adaptation: When climate disasters include infrastructure failures, research shows it could inspire climate resilience regardless of political party, says Megan Mullin, a UCLA political scientist focused on environmental politics. In a fall 2023 paper, Mullin explains how Republican constituents' vulnerability to climate change could inspire climate investment.