The 2035 Initiative at UC Santa Barbara is a cutting-edge “think-and-do” tank that brings together world-leading environmental policy research labs to develop actionable roadmaps for slashing climate pollution and ushering in a more equitable, resilient future. We use empirical research, policy development, and media engagement to support transformational policy change in the United States and across the planet.
The Clean Heat Climate Opportunity
Potential Community and Labor Impacts of an Onshore Oil Phaseout in Santa Barbara County
The Economics of Diablo Canyon: Protecting California Ratepayers and Taxpayers
The Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) Program: Participation Rates Across California
Our research has four core aims:
-
![]()
Develop roadmaps for federal climate investments
We are creating empirically grounded roadmaps to support federal climate policymaking.
-
![]()
Evaluate the impact of federal climate investments
We are researching how clean technologies are being deployed across the US.
-
![]()
Create state-level climate policy roadmaps
We are creating roadmaps to inform state-level climate policymaking opportunities.
-
![]()
Build global climate data infrastructure
We are developing data-driven tools for global climate philanthropies, policymakers, and the media.
Featured News and Events
-
![]()
The Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) Program: Participation Rates Across California
This memo documents the breadth and depth of participation in the Demand Side Grid Support (DSGS) program under Options 3 and 4. The data demonstrates that DSGS has achieved remarkable geographic reach and scale, with more than 203,000 sites enrolled during the 2025 program year, providing over 1 GW (1,000,000 kW) of clean, dispatchable capacity across the state.
-
![]()
The Economics of Diablo Canyon: Maximizing Pollution Reduction While Protecting California Ratepayers and Taxpayers
The California legislature authorized a $1.4 billion loan to PG&E to continue operating Diablo Canyon Power Plant. But the utility now faces up to a $658.6 million shortfall in repaying this loan - which could end up being covered by California taxpayers.
-
![]()
Potential Community and Labor Impacts of an Onshore Oil Phaseout in Santa Barbara County
Santa Barbara County is weighing ordinances to phase out onshore oil and gas development in the county. This new report synthesizes workforce data, a novel county-wide public opinion survey, and interviews with oil and gas workers to help decision-makers plan the next step.
-
![]()
UCSB professor tapped to co-author the seventh IPCC assessment report on climate change mitigation
Professor Eric Masanet will return to contribute to the report’s chapter on demands and services
-
![]()
Leah Stokes Receives 2025 Energy Thought Leadership Award from the American Energy Society
Each year, the American Energy Society (AES) highlights “the most extraordinary contributions to energy and sustainability” in a variety of categories: people, STEM, markets and innovations, media, the arts, and more. This year, they recognized Leah Stokes with an Energy Thought Leader: Higher Education award.
-
![]()
Near-term Strategies for Unlocking Industrial Electrification
Dr. Eric Masanet and Dr. Leah Stokes will be joined by Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (RI) and Senator Martin Heinrich (NM) for a deep dive into one of the most immediate, practical opportunities to cut industrial climate pollution in the U.S. — electrifying low- and medium-temperature process heat used in manufacturing.
-
![]()
Data-Driven Strategies to Accelerate U.S. Coal Plant Retirement
In this webinar, Dr. Grace Wu, Sidney Gathrid, and Dr. Ranjit Deshmukh will present exciting new research on how we can use retirement frameworks to develop targeted strategies to accelerate coal plant retirements.
The 2035 Initiative is a collaboration between world-leading environmental policy and politics research labs at the University of California Santa Barbara. We are a project of the UCSB Division of Social Sciences, and affiliated with the UCSB Institute for Energy Efficiency.
Learn more about what we do and who we are.