UCLA Emmett Institute

List floating in the sky

UCLA’s STOP Methane Project just released our Spotlight on the Top 25 in ’25: Oil and Gas Sector. Top 25 sites are mostly in Turkmenistan — but also Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.

Why is a Texas gas well on this list of extreme methane emissions?

stopmethane.substack.com/p/spotlight-...

An image of a list floating in the sky with a logo for UCLA's STOP Methane Project

UCLA’s STOP Methane is a new, user-friendly ranking of super-polluting methane emissions. We just released our Spotlight on the Top 25 in ’25: Oil and Gas Sector. The Top 25 sites are mostly in Turkmenistan — but also Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.

stopmethane.substack.com/p/spotlight-...

Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’ Analysis published at Cop30 summit shows adhering to pledges offers world hope of avoiding climate breakdown

Keeping promises on renewables, energy efficiency and methane ‘would avoid nearly 1C of global heating’

- Analysis @climateactiontracker.org shows adhering to pledges offers world hope of avoiding climate breakdown

#cop30 #climatecrisis
www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Here’s something to celebrate in California decarbonization.

Spotlight on the Top 25 Plumes in '25: Oil and Gas Sector The Top 25 in '25 Oil and Gas Sector Ranking includes sites in Turkmenistan, Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, and the U.S.

We just released our Spotlight on the Top 25 Plumes in ’25: Oil and Gas Sector. Oil & gas sites with the largest detected and quantified methane emissions rates worldwide. The Top 25 are mostly in Turkmenistan — but also Venezuela, Iran, Pakistan, and the US. stopmethane.substack.com/p/spotlight-...

UCLA's STOP Methane Project | Substack The STOP Methane Project is a user-friendly ranking of super-polluting methane emissions across multiple sectors. We spotlight top plumes. Click to read UCLA's STOP Methane Project, a Substack publica...

Thank you! You can subscribe to UCLA’s STOP Methane site here: stopmethane.substack.com

NEWS: UCLA’s STOP Methane Project is live, and we have a Top 25 list of extreme methane emissions from oil and gas. Huge thanks to @whitehouse.senate.gov for sharing. Sign up for updates and see all the rankings: stopmethane.substack.com

One thing is clear at COP30: Cutting methane is a way to pull the emergency brake on climate change. Important story from @fionaharvey.bsky.social.

Thinking about the 45 native shrubs our @law.UCLA.edu students and faculty planted as a Public Service Challenge last week. They’re getting a good long shower.

Our Prof. Ann Carlson talks with Sammy Roth about a possible silver-lining if Trump succeeds in revoking the endangerment finding: California could gain the power to regulate greenhouse gases.

A nice profile of my work in UCLA's Blueprint Magazine this month!

The EPA's '70s Documerica Series is Beautiful and Still Urgent - Pittsburgh Review of Books In 1970, Richard Nixon signed the Rail Passenger Service Act, creating Amtrak. With the rise of automobiles, buses, and airlines, passenger trains had

See for yourself, starting with photojournalist Gideon Leek’s article explaining the Documerica Project. For more detail, you can view the photos by category or searchable. pghrev.com/the-epas-70s...

America's Dirty Pictures: The Forgotten 'Documerica' Reminds Us How Far We've Come - Legal Planet The Documerica project, housed at the National Archives, provides a vivid window into environmental destruction circa the 1970s.

Conceived by Bill Ruckelshaus during his first stint as EPA Administrator, Documerica was inspired by the famous photographs of depression-era farmworkers commissioned in the 1930s by the Farm Security Administration. legal-planet.org/2025/11/13/d...

Rows of tires washed up on the Baltimore Harbor

Many Americans today have no memory of the world that spurred modern environmental law. The Documerica project, housed at the National Archives, provides a vivid window into environmental destruction circa the 1970s and reminds us how far we’ve come," writes our Prof. Jim Salzman.

A man standing outside of the COP30 conference center

👋We're on the ground at #COP30 in Belém, Brazil. Please say hi.

Our Cara Horowitz joins our methane project lead Juan Pablo Escudero, a Professor at Universidad Adolfo Ibáñez. Our Governors'​ Climate & Forests Task Force led by Jason Gray is holding a governors roundtable and several side events.

If Trump’s EPA abandons climate policy, could California take over on greenhouse gases? California, the state that helped define U.S. clean-air policy, is once again considering how far it can go without Washington’s permission.

If Trump’s EPA abandons climate policy, could California take over on greenhouse gases? Our Ann Carlson first floated the idea, which appears to have legs. Good story by @gauchoesque.bsky.social

calmatters.org/environment/...

What ethical, moral, and biophysical concerns should we consider as we weigh the costs and benefits of further altering Earth’s planetary balance?

Our Faculty Director Ted Parson is on the latest episode of The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens to talk about climate interventions, risks, and thorny governance issues. @law.ucla.edu

a cover image of a magazine logo and a battery with the China flag

UCLA's Blueprint Magazine explores China's lead in the race to renewables and features a lengthy interview and profile of our Prof. Alex Wang @greenlawchina.bsky.social.

blueprint.ucla.edu/feature/the-...

Good COP, Bad COP in Belém, Brazil  - Legal Planet The United Nations mega-conference focused on climate change known as COP (“Conference of the Parties”) is well underway in Belém, Brazil with 193 countries plus the EU, 57 heads of state, 39 minister...

Newsom grabs the spotlight. Big money for methane reductions. China and Brazil fill the power vacuum. Here's the good and bad of COP30.

legal-planet.org/2025/11/12/g...

Should Private Firms Be Involved in Cooling the Planet?  - Legal Planet Private firms like Stardust Solutions want to get in on planet-cooling interventions. Here’s the OK, the bad, and the ugly about startup involvement.

The legal and policy issues presented by possible interventions in the Earth System in response to escalating climate risk are only becoming thornier by the day. Our Ted Parson weighs in on solar geoengineering startups and on his expanded research in this area.

legal-planet.org/2025/11/11/s...

A bold new investment fund aims to channel billions into tropical forest protection – one key change can make it better The Tropical Forest Forever Facility is designed to reward countries for preventing deforestation. Charts show the magnitude of the problem.

The just-launched Tropical Forests Forever Facility is a bold new investment fund that aims to channel billions into tropical forest protection – "One key change can make it better," writes our Jason Gray at @us.theconversation.com as #COP30 gets underway.

theconversation.com/a-bold-new-i...

2 UCLA Law students planting a shrub and giving a peace sign.

For the @law.ucla.edu Public Service Challenge, our law students volunteered at @treepeople-org.bsky.social, removing invasive plants, and planting CA sagebrush and other natives all along a hillside they’re restoring. #probono

Screenshot of a digital story

This article in the new #UCLA Blueprint magazine looks at our GCF Task Force's work in Brazil on the long road to #COP30.

blueprint.ucla.edu/sketch/notes...

Why Are Rates Rising Faster at Investor-Owned Utilities Than at Public Utilities? - Inside Climate News Case studies from California offer a look into the pros and cons of public and private utilities.

Thanks to @blancabegert.bsky.social for covering this important topic and a bunch of work by my colleagues @uclalawemmett.bsky.social, @uclaioes.bsky.social looking at the LADWP/SoCal Edison comparison +

insideclimatenews.org/news/0511202...

Important story from @blancabegert.bsky.social on the differences between investor-owned utilities and publicly owned electricity providers, citing work by our current and former energy law experts.

How important are these sources of emissions? Consider that over a year, a landfill emitting 4 tons of methane per hour (in the middle of the pack of our “Top 25” list) would contribute about as much to global warming as one million SUVs or one large (500 megawatt) coal-fired power plant.

Spotlight on the Top 25 Plumes in '25: Landfills This list shows the most extreme methane emissions rates worldwide from landfills (aka waste dumps) seen by key satellite instruments.

We just released our first list: The Top 25 in ‘25, an initial list of waste sites and landfills with the largest observed methane emissions rates globally for 2025. Click to see the most extreme methane emissions rates from landfills, from the US to Saudi Arabia. ucla.in/4pc7MWL

Methane, CO2 Detection Satellite | Greenhouse Gas | Carbon Mapper Our mission is to drive greenhouse gas emission reductions by making methane and carbon dioxide data accessible and actionable.

The UCLA Emmett Institute’s STOP Methane Project aims to make the plethora of data more visible, understandable, and usable in guiding and motivating efforts to cut methane emissions. We use public data from Carbon Mapper, a leading source of remote-sensed methane emissions data. carbonmapper.org

Announcing the UCLA Emmett Institute's STOP Methane Project The Emmett Institute’s STOP Methane Project aims to make the new data more visible, understandable, and usable in guiding and motivating efforts to cut emissions.

Methane is a potent greenhouse gas and cutting it provides a critical opportunity to reduce near-term climate change. Powerful new tools can detect methane emissions, but data alone is not enough to drive action. Enter the STOP Methane Project. ucla.in/3JB9yBt