The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law recently secured an endowment fund to establish the Emmett Center, a center dedicated to the study, research, and teaching of knowledge related to climate change and the environment. The Emmett Center plans to engage UCLA experts who are working on matters related to climate change and intends to play a key role in addressing environmental issues.

North Carolina State University initiated its 'Year of Energy' with the dedication of a new 75.6 kW photovoltaic array that will serve as an educational project for students. The 'Year of Energy' is a program in which the University plans to focus on energy-related issues throughout 2008. The array, which is owned by Carolina Solar Energy, is believed to be the largest privately financed solar photovoltaic array in North Carolina. The power it generates is sold to Progress Energy. The dedication ceremony was followed with NCSU's inaugural Energy Fair, which served to show attendees how NCSU and its partners foresee solutions to energy issues.

MIT announced that it will be partnering with Italian energy company, Eni, to develop advanced solar technologies. The Eni-MITEI Solar Frontiers Research Program will focus on nano-structured thin film photovoltaics, luminescent solar concentrators, self assembling photovoltaic materials, water splitting, materials for solar energy capture and storage, and maximizing the return on investment for solar thermals plants. Eni will also support various other energy related projects such as research in evaluation methodologies for the commercial potential of energy startups and novel energy technologies.

A recently article in the National Law Journal describes how law schools across the country are going green. The University of Colorado School of Law's Wolf Law Building and the University of Denver's Frank H. Ricketson Jr. Law Building have both been certified LEED gold in recently years, and many schools plan to follow suit. Environmentally and sustainably focused law courses and degrees have become more prevalent in recent years, and law schools are seeing increasing student interest in environmental law topics as well.

University of Maine art students submitted their global warming and environmentally focused work to an exhibit hosted by the Kennebec Art Association. During the exhibition, participating artists will be accepting donations to purchase offsets for the carbon fuels and materials used for the event.

The City University of New York (CUNY) recently joined The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) of New York State, a not-for-profit group of private and public companies and institutions that will research and develop new ways to efficiently and effectively deliver energy from the sun. TSEC plans to research ways to install economically sensible photovoltaic systems and to create a solid solar industry in the state of New York. Other participating institutions include Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Clarkson University, Binghamton University and The State University of New York at New Paltz.

The Arizona Board of Regents have approved $3.35 million in funding for Arizona Research Institute for Solar Energy (AzRISE). The new institute was established at University of Arizona this summer with the goal of fully developing solar energy's potential through research, industry partnerships, and policy solutions. The research goals of AzRISE include identifying, funding and coordinating Arizona-specific solar energy research opportunities, developing intellectual property and promoting development and widespread adoption of solar energy. The new funding approved by the regents will allow AzRISE to support individual research efforts and continue its outreach efforts to promote solar energy adoption.