Archive for category: Luskin in the News

A Test of Los Angeles’ Fire Preparedness

January 14, 2025/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Edith de Guzman /by Stan Paul

Edith de Guzman of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation spoke to National Public Radio’s “All Things Considered” about the ongoing wildfires in Los Angeles. The program, part of a special series on California wildfires, focused on L.A.’s preparedness for the fires — made worse by Santa Ana wind conditions — which have led to loss of life, burned thousands of structures and displaced thousands of Angelenos. De Guzman said that the past week has tested L.A.’s otherwise high level of fire preparedness. With “embers flying miles apart, fire ignition is extremely difficult to predict or control and it’s happening simultaneously in so many places,” said De Guzman, a University of California Cooperative Extension specialist on water equity and adaptation policy. She added that climate change and the fact that much of L.A.’s housing stock is built with wooden construction for seismic safety have made things worse.

Read/Listen to NPR program

Pierce on State of L.A.’s Water System

Gregory Pierce, director of UCLA’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab at UCLA Luskin, commented in media outlets including POLITICO, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, Reuters and LAist on the devastating wildfires in the Los Angeles region. Firefighting — already hampered by strong Santa Ana winds — has been further diminished by lack of water, which has left some fire hydrants dry. While local and state leaders are receiving criticism for the area’s lack of preparation, some fire experts and urban water experts have described the situation as “the perfect storm” and “the worst-case scenario,” which no city could have fully prepared for. “I don’t know that any place in the world has a system like that,” said Pierce, who also serves as co-director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation. Pierce explained that such a system for fighting wildfires would be extremely expensive as well as come with potentially negative climate impacts that could create further fire risks.

Read POLITICO story

Read LA Times story

Read LAist story

Read Washington Post story

Read NY Times story

Read AP story

Read Reuters story

Learning More About the Water We Drink

January 6, 2025/1 Comment/in Luskin in the News Gregory Pierce /by Mary Braswell

Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation, spoke to Women’s Health and Voice of San Diego about the relative safety of tap, bottled and filtered water. “On average, the water in the United States is held to a higher standard and tracked more closely than that in other high-income countries,” said Pierce, who directs the center’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab. Compared to tap water, “bottled water has less oversight and fewer rules. It’s usually not safer,” he said. But Pierce added, “It’s a good idea for everyone to look into the quality of the water coming out of their tap, as water quality often varies even within the same city.” If tap water, looks, smells or tastes bad, residents should contact the local water agency, government offices or advocates, he said.

Read the Women’s Health article

Read the Voice of San Diego story

Torres-Gil on President Jimmy Carter’s Legacy

January 3, 2025/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Fernando Torres-Gil /by Stan Paul

Fernando Torres-Gil, director of UCLA Luskin’s Center for Policy Research on Aging and professor emeritus of social welfare and public policy, appeared on a KABC Eyewitness News television broadcast in an interview about the legacy of former President Jimmy Carter, who passed away Dec. 29 at the age of 100. Torres-Gil, who was appointed to the Federal Council on Aging by the 39th president in 1978, commented on Carter’s views on aging and support of older Americans, saying that improving the lives of older Americans was a “process Jimmy Carter truly believed in.” Torres-Gil, who went on to serve in the Clinton and Obama administrations, credits Carter and former First Lady Rosalynn Carter with helping to launch his career in public service. Carter “saw old age not as one segment of life but as a continuation of life,” Torres-Gil said. “He would say, ‘I have no regrets.’”

Watch the interview

Newsom’s Health Care Initiatives in Peril

January 2, 2025/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Mark A. Peterson /by Mary Braswell

UCLA Luskin health policy expert Mark Peterson weighed in on prospects for California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s health care agenda in a story by the Los Angeles Times and KFF News. Newsom has steered tens of billions in public funding to safety net services for the state’s neediest residents and launched initiatives to make health care more affordable, but some of his most sweeping initiatives have faltered. Under the next Trump administration, the governor’s signature health initiatives, as well as his own political future, are likely to become a target. For example, California became the first state in the nation to allow immigrants without legal status to enroll in free health care under Medi-Cal, the state’s version of Medicaid. “That is fuel to feed the Republican MAGA argument that we are taking tax dollars from good Americans and providing health care to immigrants,” said Peterson, a professor of public policy with a joint appointment at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.

Read the story

Gilens on Trump, Musk and Conflicts of Interest

December 20, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Martin Gilens /by Mary Braswell

A Washington Post story on tech billionaire Elon Musk’s outsize influence on the incoming Trump administration cited UCLA Luskin’s Martin Gilens. Musk became an outspoken Trump supporter less than six months ago and spent $277 million to back Republican campaigns in this election cycle. Now, he’s playing an unprecedented role in shaping Trump’s administration, weighing in on Cabinet picks, joining meetings with heads of state and, this week, sparking a showdown on Capitol Hill by attacking a spending bill that would forestall a government shutdown. Musk is also the target of multiple government investigations and party to many lucrative government contracts. His business empire’s dependency on the government creates a conflict of interest, said Gilens, a professor of public policy, social welfare and political science. “It’s kind of a perfect storm, in the sense that he’s unelected and in a seemingly very influential position,” he said, “so that’s problematic to begin with.”

Read the story

Torres-Gil on Providing Culturally Competent Care

December 19, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Fernando Torres-Gil /by Stan Paul

Fernando Torres-Gil, director of UCLA Luskin’s Center for Policy Research on Aging and professor emeritus of social welfare and public policy, commented in an article published by The World about aging immigrants and their health care needs. The story notes that the number of foreign-born older people in the United States is quickly increasing and projected to reach 23% of the total older population by 2060. However, the U.S. health care system is not fully prepared to meet the needs of this aging population. The story focuses on a hospital-based fall-prevention class for Spanish-speaking older adults. Torres-Gil said that care programs where language and culture are shared and understood are vital to immigrants “because that way, they’ll age healthier and be less of an economic health burden on the community.” At the same time, he said that providing culturally competent care may be difficult to fund considering the incoming presidential administration’s attitude toward immigrants.

Read the story

Manville on L.A.’s Spot Street Widening Regulations

December 16, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Michael Manville /by Stan Paul

Michael Manville, professor and chair of UCLA Luskin Urban Planning, is cited in a Los Angeles Times editorial on the city’s longstanding street-widening requirements, so-called “zombie regulations” that are now getting the attention of local lawmakers. Under these regulations, in place since the early 1960s, new apartment and commercial developments are often required to dedicate part of the property to the city for road expansion. Road expansions account for L.A.’s “jigsaw-puzzle” configuration of widening and narrowing streets, according to the editorial. While intended to improve traffic flow, whether roads are congested or not, the editorial argues that the parcel-by-parcel widenings provide little or no congestion relief while they take out mature trees, parkways and sidewalk space. “I’ve studied urban regulations for 20 years, and this is probably the dumbest regulation I’ve ever encountered,” Manville said. The editorial also cites research by Manville showing that the road widening regulation increases the cost of housing.

Read the editorial

Shoup’s Strategy to Fix L.A.’s Broken Sidewalks

December 10, 2024/0 Comments/in Luskin in the News Donald Shoup /by Mary Braswell

Donald Shoup, distinguished research professor of urban planning at UCLA Luskin, wrote a Planetizen article about his proposal for the best way to address the broken concrete and uprooted trees causing hazards on the sidewalks of Los Angeles. Shoup says that Los Angeles should enforce the city and state laws that require property owners to maintain the adjacent sidewalks. The city can then partner with banks to allow the property owners to delay paying for any repairs until they sell their properties. He suggests that banks loan people money for repairs, to be repaid when owners sell their properties. With this policy, Los Angeles can repair its 4,000 miles of broken sidewalks that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. Failure to make all the sidewalks accessible for people with disabilities before the Olympic and Paralympic Games in 2028 would give Los Angeles a catastrophic black eye on the world stage, he says. Shoup also spoke with KCRW and The Times of London.

Read the Planetizen article

Listen to the KCRW report

Read the Times of London article

Recycling Wastewater to Protect Clean Water Supply

December 9, 2024/1 Comment/in Luskin in the News Gregory Pierce /by Mary Braswell

Gregory Pierce, co-executive director of the UCLA Luskin Center for Innovation (LCI), spoke to the Los Angeles Times and LAist’s AirTalk about a new study that assesses Los Angeles’ plan to invest in a $740-million facility to recycle wastewater into clean drinking water. “Any way you slice it, our estimates are that the benefits are going to vastly outweigh the costs,” Pierce said. LCI researchers examined about 100,000 potential scenarios, including shortages caused by droughts or major earthquakes that could rupture aqueducts and cut off outside supplies. “Because climate uncertainty will be the largest driver of the city’s water shortage, the city must adapt by developing more local, reliable supplies,” he said. “It’s worth making that investment even though it’s a high cost up-front.” In a separate AirTalk appearance, Pierce, who also directs LCI’s Human Right to Water Solutions Lab, weighed in on the historical and contemporary importance of the century-old L.A. aqueduct.

Read the L.A. Times article

Listen to the AirTalk segment

A Test of Los Angeles’ Fire Preparedness

Pierce on State of L.A.’s Water System

Learning More About the Water We Drink

Torres-Gil on President Jimmy Carter’s Legacy

Newsom’s Health Care Initiatives in Peril

Gilens on Trump, Musk and Conflicts of Interest

Torres-Gil on Providing Culturally Competent Care

Manville on L.A.’s Spot Street Widening Regulations

Shoup’s Strategy to Fix L.A.’s Broken Sidewalks

Recycling Wastewater to Protect Clean Water Supply

Contact

Campus Resources

Follow