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The report analyzes climate accountability frameworks—systems that break long-term greenhouse gas targets into interim milestones—using case studies from jurisdictions like the UK, Aotearoa/New Zealand, British Columbia, and Manitoba. It identifies six common elements and associated best practices, such as legislating targets, ensuring independent expert advice, and using cumulative carbon budgets. For Canada, the authors recommend a national framework with legally binding milestones set only at the national level to avoid regional burden-sharing conflicts, while encouraging subnational governments to implement their own complementary frameworks. The report emphasizes a collaborative approach where the federal government provides policy backstops and financial incentives to ensure a resilient, multi-jurisdictional response to climate change.

The report finds that implementing a portfolio of flexibility resources and market reforms could reduce electricity costs by up to 13% and carbon emissions by up to 17% in Tamil Nadu. Key opportunities include leveraging electric vehicle charging, agricultural pumping, and retrofitting coal plants to operate at lower technical minimums. The study emphasizes that while demand flexibility is often the lowest cost, a combined approach with storage and powerplant flexibility provides the highest system reliability and carbon benefits. Integration into a wider India-wide market could further reduce system costs by an additional 6%.

The document is a transcript of a briefing featuring experts from the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources and the Puerto Rico Department of Natural and Environmental Resources. It examines the devastating impacts of Hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as recent earthquakes in Puerto Rico, highlighting the vulnerability of the electric grid and coastal infrastructure. The speakers argue that while Congress has approved significant funding for recovery and resilience, bureaucratic delays in federal agencies like HUD and FEMA have stalled the disbursement of these resources. The briefing emphasizes the effectiveness of nature-based solutions, such as coral reef restoration, for wave attenuation and coastal protection, while noting that traditional cost-benefit analysis tools often favor short-term returns over long-term resilient infrastructure.

Energy Innovation modeled a subset of the U.S. House Select Committee on the Climate Crisis's recommendations, finding that these policies could reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions by 40% below 2005 levels by 2030 and 89% by 2050. The analysis projects that net carbon dioxide emissions would reach zero by 2048, avoiding 62,000 premature deaths annually by 2050 and generating approximately $8 trillion in monetized health and climate benefits (at a 3% discount rate). The modeling covers sectors including electricity, transportation, buildings, industry, oil and gas, agriculture, and natural climate solutions, assuming a transition to 100% clean electricity by 2040 and 100% zero-emission vehicle sales for light-duty vehicles by 2035.

The report validates the California Air Resources Board's (CARB) analysis of the proposed Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which aims for approximately 60 percent of new medium- and heavy-duty trucks sold in California to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Using the California Energy Policy Simulator (EPS), the authors find that the rule would reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) by nearly 60,000 tons and carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e) by 17.6 MMT through 2040. Economically, the EPS estimates total savings of over $7 billion using CARB's battery cost forecasts, but this figure increases to more than $12 billion if a more aggressive battery cost reduction scenario (a two-year lag instead of five relative to the light-duty market) is applied. The report emphasizes that while upfront costs remain a hurdle, long-term fuel savings and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) revenue create a significant economic opportunity.

The document establishes a framework for evaluating 'high-quality' carbon credits across six quality objectives: robust GHG impact determination, avoidance of double counting, addressing non-permanence, facilitating the transition to net zero, strong institutional arrangements, and positive environmental and social impacts. It details specific criteria for each, such as additionality, corresponding adjustments under the Paris Agreement, and the avoidance of carbon lock-in, to guide buyers in a complex market.

The report details how Leonard Green & Partners acquired Prospect Medical Holdings in 2010 and subsequently extracted between $570 million and $658 million in fees and dividends. This occurred despite a dramatic decline in EBITDA from $142 million in 2015 to $17 million in 2018 and the accumulation of $260 million in unfunded pension liabilities. The document highlights systemic failures, including the complete closure of the Nix Health system in Texas, 'immediate jeopardy' patient conditions in Connecticut, and legal disputes over pensions in Rhode Island and community funding in Pennsylvania. It concludes by urging the Pennsylvania Attorney General to block a change in ownership until Leonard Green returns the extracted funds to support hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project argues that Leonard Green & Partners extracted $658 million in fees and dividends from Prospect Medical Holdings despite the hospital chain's declining financial health, poor quality ratings, and unfunded pension liabilities. The letter highlights a $457 million dividend paid in 2018 that allegedly contradicted commitments made to Rhode Island regulators. It also notes that Prospect sold hospital real estate to Medical Properties Trust to pay down $1.1 billion in debt and shut down all facilities in Texas. The author requests that California's Attorney General withhold approval for the ownership transfer to ensure resources are available for the COVID-19 response.

The Private Equity Stakeholder Project alleges that Leonard Green & Partners extracted $570 million to $658 million in fees and dividends from Prospect Medical Holdings while the hospital chain suffered from declining financial performance, poor quality ratings, and underfunded pensions. The document details systemic failures across hospitals in Texas, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Rhode Island, including the total closure of the Nix Health System in Texas and lawsuits from pensioners in Rhode Island. It highlights a $457 million dividend paid in 2018 that contradicted assurances given to Rhode Island regulators. The author contends that Leonard Green is attempting to exit its majority stake for a fraction of its acquisition cost, leaving behind a legacy of financial and operational distress in safety net hospitals.

The construction and operation of buildings contribute nearly 40% of global CO2 emissions, yet most regulations focus only on operational carbon. This case study highlights the Meishan Near-Zero Carbon Zone in Ningbo, China, which integrates a life-cycle assessment (LCA) standard and a whole-process management mechanism to target emissions across five phases: materials production, construction, operation, demolition, and waste recycling. The document also notes international efforts, such as France's E+C- scheme and California's Buy Clean California Act, as part of a global shift toward accounting for embodied carbon in the built environment.

The policy brief contends that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated existing vulnerabilities in the U.S. fossil fuel industry, making a fair transition for workers urgent. It advises against using federal stimulus for fossil fuel assets, suggesting instead that investments be directed toward low-carbon infrastructure, which creates more jobs per million dollars spent. The author proposes a four-part framework for a fair transition: accounting for automation and digitization, planning proactively across all carbon-intensive industries, recognizing that clean energy jobs may not be a direct replacement for all fossil fuel roles due to geographic and skill gaps, and employing bottom-up, community-led investment strategies.

The 116th Congress has pursued several bipartisan initiatives to protect U.S. biodiversity, focusing on wildlife corridors, land preservation, endangered species, and invasive species management. Key legislative proposals include the Wildlife Corridors Conservation Act and the Great American Outdoors Act, alongside efforts to restore previous protections under the Endangered Species Act and expand invasive species management through the WILD Act.

California's bottle bill, once successful with 85% recycling rates, has seen redemption rates fall to 66% due to the closure of recycling centers. This has resulted in consumers receiving only 2.65 cents of their 5-cent deposit on average, with $400 million in deposits failing to return to residents annually. A YouGov poll from March 2020 indicates 37% of Californians are unaware of the bill and 53% do not use redemption centers. The COVID-19 pandemic has further decreased onsite redemption. The document proposes reforming the system using "no-touch" reverse vending machines (RVMs) and bag-drop systems, and increasing the number of redemption sites. It suggests using part of the $400 million in the Beverage Container Recycling Fund for modernization. A system with a 90% redemption rate could provide $1.2 billion in annual refunds to residents, secure 8,000 existing jobs, and create 5,000 new ones. The briefing references a study by Eunomia Research & Consulting comparing California to best-in-class systems in Oregon, Michigan, Norway, and Germany.

SEI is supporting the California Water Action Plan by developing water allocation models, such as the South Fork Eel River Water Allocation Model (SEWAM), and the eWRIMS Analyzer tool. These tools allow policymakers to quantify trade-offs between ecosystem needs, such as in-stream flow requirements for species restoration, and the water availability for agriculture and rural communities. The work involves explicitly representing every water right to assess legal and illegal water use, including cannabis diversions, and using visualization software to analyze these impacts under various climate conditions.

The briefing highlights a crisis in California's bottle bill, where redemption rates have fallen to 66% due to the closure of over 1,200 recycling centers between 2013 and 2019. It proposes reforming the system by implementing 'no-touch' reverse vending machines (RVMs) and bag-drop systems, and expanding the scope to include wine and liquor containers. According to analysis by Eunomia Research & Consulting, moving to a 'best-in-class' (BiC) system with a 96% redemption rate would create 5,000 additional jobs, save 400,000 metric tons of GHG emissions annually, and significantly reduce plastic and aluminum litter in the environment and oceans.

Since 2010, Leonard Green & Partners and other owners collected $658 million in dividends and fees from Prospect Medical Holdings, despite the company facing severe operating challenges, underfunded pensions, and low quality ratings from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. A significant $457 million debt-financed dividend paid in 2018 contradicted previous assurances given to Rhode Island regulators that no further distributions were planned. During the same period, Prospect's EBITDA fell from $142 million in 2015 to $17 million in 2018, and its pension fund funded ratio dropped from 68.3% in 2016 to 60.7% in 2018.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) finds that the average EV in the US produces global warming emissions equivalent to a gasoline vehicle achieving 88 mpg, making it cleaner than any new gasoline car available. This advantage is driven by the decreasing share of coal in the US electricity grid and improvements in EV efficiency, notably from the Tesla Model 3. The report highlights that 94% of the US population now lives in regions where an EV is cleaner than a 50 mpg gasoline car, compared to less than 50% in 2012.

The document argues that systemic racism has historically excluded BIPOC from land ownership and financial resources, which undermines the resilience of the US food system. It proposes a framework for increasing land accessibility, improving financial resources, enhancing infrastructure and information, and fostering BIPOC leadership to achieve a more sustainable and equitable agricultural sector.

The report examines the controlled environment agriculture (CEA) industry, comparing conventional farming with hydroponic and aquaponic systems in greenhouse and vertical formats. A life cycle analysis (LCA) reveals that while conventional agriculture currently has the lowest overall environmental impact, CEA excels in land and water efficiency. The document identifies energy and labor as primary cost hurdles but highlights innovations in LED lighting, AI, and renewable energy as potential solutions. It specifically evaluates St. Louis as a viable location for a pilot project due to its market demand, available stranded assets like caves and brownfields, and supportive local policies.

The report examines the potential of semi-industrialized, prefabricated retrofit packages to reduce the complexity, risk, and cost of zero-energy building upgrades. It specifically analyzes the Dutch model pioneered by Energiesprong, which has applied net-zero retrofit packages to approximately 5,000 multifamily units, and evaluates the availability of similar facade panel and mechanical system innovations in the US market to catalyze large-scale industrialized retrofits.