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Williams Institute Director Brad Sears (fourth from left) testifying at Congressional hearing on Employment Non-Discrimination Act. advancing law and policy solutions to the climate crisis. “Our environmental law faculty works across disciplines and crossinstitutionally to develop and promote research and policy tools that decision-makers can use to address environmental challenges on a local, national and global level,” says Professor Ann Carlson, faculty director of the Emmett Center and an authority on climate change law and policy. The Emmett Center’s Pritzker Environmental Law and Policy Briefs, a paper series that provides expert analysis to further public dialogue on environmental issues, are a prime example. Recent briefs have covered everything from green chemistry regulations to the regulation of groundwater to a cool-roof program for Los Angeles. Additional Emmett Center reports have focused on California’s cap-and-trade program, clean energy and increasing investment in public transportation.
reaching a Broad audience The production of singular research is just one component of UCLA Law’s leadership in affecting policy at home and abroad. Another aspect is the frequent testimony by the law school’s renowned subject matter experts. Dedicated to the task of using their knowledge in service of the greater community, UCLA Law’s esteemed scholars—many at the pinnacle of their fields—weigh in on the full spectrum of policy challenges and participate at the highest levels of debate. Their testimony before legislatures is a way for their work to reach a broader audience and provide support for the creation of better laws. In June, Williams Institute Research Director M. V. Lee Badgett appeared before the U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions to discuss Senate Bill 811, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA). Her testimony, based on Williams Institute-sponsored and other
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ongoing research, documented the presence of workplace discrimination against LGBT Americans and offered compelling evidence in support of ENDA’s passage. “Decades of social science research have demonstrated that employment discrimination against LGBT employees occurs across the country and evidence suggests that a federal prohibition on such conduct would reduce discrimination,” she testified. Williams Institute faculty members and researchers frequently share their opinions. In July 2011, a group including Brad Sears, M.V. Lee Badgett, Ilan Meyer, Gary Gates, Nan Hunter and Jennifer Pizer, provided written testimony on Senate Bill 598 (The Respect for Marriage Act) to the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Their assessment of the implications of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) for American families included important findings from Williams Institute research about same-sex couples and the serious financial, legal, social and health consequences of DOMA for them and their families. The Williams Institute is not alone in providing opinionshaping testimony. In March, Cara Horowitz, the Emmett Center’s Andrew Sabin Family Foundation executive director, testified before the California Senate Select Committee on the Economy, Environment and Climate Change on California’s climate regulations. She also testified on the topic before the
“Our environmental law faculty works across disciplines and crossinstitutionally to develop and promote research and policy tools that decision-makers can use to address environmental challenges on a local, national and global level.”