University of California, Santa Cruz
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

-- UCSC was a founding member of the Monterey Bay Regional Climate Action Compact (MBRCAC) which is an action network of government agencies, educational institutions, private businesses, non-profit, and non-governmental organizations that are committed to working collaboratively to address the causes and effects of global climate change through local initiatives that focus on economic vitality and reduce environmental impacts for the region.
MBRCAC partners develop and implement initiatives that focus on accomplishing these primary objectives:
Regional Greenhouse Gas Emission Reductions
Economic Development, Job Creation/Retention
Climate Change Awareness and Education
Strategic Climate Change Adaptation
UCSC Sustainability Office actively participates in the MBRCAC’s meetings and initiatives as they work with local and regional municipalities to advance sustainability. Current efforts include working to improve electric vehicle incentives and get local charging stations funded and installed.
In early 2021, the MBRCAC merged with Central Coast Climate Collaborative (4C) which goes by that new name. UCSC is a member of 4C.

-- UCSC's Institute for Social Transformation https://transform.ucsc.edu/
Regularly works on policy advocacy through papers and events. For example, this April 15, 2021 event: Reparations for Black Americans: The Road to Racial Equality in California and Beyond. Some of the country’s leading experts and advocates joined IST to discuss reparations and the racial wealth gap. Speakers included: William A. Darity Jr., A. Kirsten Mullen, Anne Price, and Congresswoman Barbara Lee.

-- UCSC's Center for Justice, Tolerance and Community https://cjtc.ucsc.edu/
The Center for Justice, Tolerance, and Community (CJTC) is a progressive, applied research institute that focuses on issues of social and economic justice, dialogues across diversity, and the building of collaborative communities. Our faculty affiliates tackle a broad range of issues including the roots of prejudice, the sources of economic inequality, and the obstacles to the building of community. Combining cutting-edge research with an emphasis on public dissemination of findings and collaborative partnerships with community-based organizations, the center aims to make a difference in people's lives by providing information and analysis for action.

Professors contributing to local efforts to advance sustainable policy:
--Chris Wilmers, Professor, Environmental Studies Department: Works with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) to figure out wildlife connectivity in the region. So far that work has resulted in a bond measure that raised $5 million and the land trust has raised much more to construct a tunnel under Highway 17 for wildlife movement.
Lab Web Page: http://wildlife.ucsc.edu
Puma Project: http://santacruzpumas.org
African Lion Project: http://africanlions.org

--Karen Holl, Professor of Environmental Studies: talked to more than 20 reporters in the the past year about how to improve the outcomes of tree growing campaigns aimed at carbon sequestration. She's served on three advisory boards (World Economic Forum, Trees for Climate Health - an NGO, and Milkywire - a business investment group) to help select groups receive funding for reforestation projects. She worked with Conservation International to put together a practitioner guide on how to use Applied nucleation (a restoration strategy) to restore tropical forests. She has also given numerous public forum talks and written general audience articles. List available at http://www.holl-lab.com/improving-tree-growing-campaigns.html.

UC State Government Relations (SGR) serves as the university’s primary representative to state elected officials and agencies, providing advocacy on legislation and public policies that provide for, extend, and enhance the university’s authority to conduct its business operations in a manner that is efficient and sustainable as well as advocating against measures that would limit this authority.

As an example, during the 2017-2018 legislative session, the University of California supported SB 237, a bill to amend Section 365.1 of the Public Utilities Code relating to electricity. The bill requires the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to make changes to the direct access service program authorizing direct energy transactions between electricity suppliers and customers. The changes include a requirement to increase the annual maximum allowable limit of direct access service by 4,000 gigawatt hours for non-residential customers, as well as investigate the viability of a second direct service transactions reopening schedule. Ultimately, this bill helped universities have more autonomy over their electricity purchases. The bill was signed by then Governor of California Jerry Brown on September 20, 2018.

UC SGR also worked proactively with the authors of the proposed climate adaptation bonds in spring of 2020. While the bonds did not pass, UC staff were closely involved in their development within the California State Senate, the California State Assembly, and the Office of the Governor. Had these proposals been approved, the resulting funds would have been spent primarily on building and retrofitting projects, as well as state grants to communities to prepare for the impacts of climate change.

Professors working to advance state/provincial/regional issues:
Carrie Pomeroy, Social Sciences, Research Social Scientist, UCSC Institute of Marine Sciences; Assistant Adjunct Professor, Coastal Science & Policy Program. Serves on the California Ocean Protection Council Science Advisory Team, the National Academy of Sciences Committee on Offshore Science and Assessment for Ocean Energy Management, and the NOAA-BOEM-RODA Synthesis of Science: Fisheries and Offshore Wind – Socioeconomics Author Team. https://caseagrant.ucsd.edu/profile/carrie-pomeroy

Chris Wilmers, Professor, Environmental Studies Department: Works with the Land Trust of Santa Cruz County and Caltrans to figure out wildlife connectivity in the region. So far that work has resulted in a bond measure that raised $5 million and the land trust has raised much more to construct a tunnel under Highway 17 for wildlife movement.
Lab Web Page: http://wildlife.ucsc.edu
Puma Project: http://santacruzpumas.org
African Lion Project: http://africanlions.org

UC Federal Government Relations is the university’s liaison to the federal government, working with Congress, the administration, federal agencies and national organizations to advocate for the university and its missions in education, research and public service. Examples include:

-- Convening UC faculty and staff to host Congressional briefings. Congressional briefings that highlight the impact of the university’s sustainability efforts on campus operations and showcase UC as a model for other institutions are a part of the university’s effort to demonstrate the value of investing in UC and advocate for the federal funding that supports the university’s energy and sustainability goals.

-- Participating in DC lobby days, such as the annual Coalition for National Science Funding Day on Capitol Hill. Representatives from UC campuses attend meetings with members of Congress and their staff and contribute to the National Science Foundation (NSF) project exhibit. Campus representatives also meet with federal legislators, committee staff, and agency contacts throughout the year to discuss faculty and student efforts to address sustainability and climate issues.

-- The UC Advocacy Network has also established an online “Climate Lab” that compiles videos, articles, and other multimedia formats to educate visitors to the site about issues ranging from global warming, to clean energy, to sustainability relating to issues like food and technology. As part of the UC’s Carbon Neutrality Initiative, these resources provide easily accessible ways for both the UC community and the greater public to see the ways in which UC research is a fundamental part of the global response to climate change.

-- 2021 UC’s MOU with Mexico
UC has a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Mexican Secretariat of Energy (SENER) to promote increased collaboration between the university and Mexico on energy and sustainability efforts, including research; visits from scholars, scientists and administrators; and the development of graduate programs in the field of renewable energy. The goal is for Mexico and California work together in areas that are needed to secure a more sustainable future and a long-lasting regional economic development.

-- On February 6, 2018, the University of California announced that it had assembled an international coalition of 13 research universities across the United States, Canada and Mexico – called the University Climate Change Coalition, or UC3 – who were committing to work together to galvanize local and regional action on climate change. Member institutions represent more than 1.5 million students across North America. The coalition has since released the 2018 UC3 Progress Report and the 2019 UC3 Impact Report, both of which discuss the mission and achievements of the coalition and its cohorts. Most recently, the coalition released the 2020-2025 UC3 Strategic Plan, providing an updated vision and trajectory for the organization built on its successes and lessons learned over the past two years from cross-sector forums, internal collaborations, and partnerships with local and regional stakeholders.

International policy contributions from faculty:

Katherine Seto, PhD, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Studies:
2021: Resource allocation in transboundary tuna fisheries: A global analysis: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13280-020-01371-3
2020: Toward transparent governance of transboundary fisheries: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308597X19309133

Karen Holl, Professor of Environmental Studies:
Participated in a site visit and contributed to a report organized by The Nature Conservancy and the Center for Global Development providing advice on reforesting in and around the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh.

We’re members of AASHE
AASHE has long engaged in advocacy and outreach on behalf of their members and higher education sustainability.

UC Santa Cruz does not make political donations.