Technical 

• The emergence of indoor agriculture as a driver of global energy demand npj Sustainable Agriculture 3:52 https://doi.org/10.1038/s44264-025-00091-z (PDF)

• Energy-intensive indoor cultivation drives the cannabis industry’s expanding carbon footprint, Cell Press: One Earth, February 2025 [PDF] [Supplemental Information]

• Contrary to Conventional Methods, Best Practices for Cannabis Cultivation Result in Less Intensive Land and Water Use for Outdoor than for Indoor Farming

• Testimony related to regulatory violations and environmental justice, presented at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District hearing, June 27, 2022.  "Report on the Foreseeability and Avoidability of Power Disruptions and the Need for 11 Megawatts of Diesel Generators to Power Cannabis Cultivation at 5601 and 5733 San Leandro Street Oakland, CA." [PDF]

• The Incompatibility of Cannabis Factory Farming with the Principles of ESG Risk Management and Impact Investment. Journal of Impact and ESG Investing. Winter 2022 issue. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3905/jesg.2022.1.056

• Nuances in Parsing Indoor Cannabis use, Comment on “Cannabis and the Environment: What Science Tells Us and What We Still Need to Know”  (Environmental Science & Technology Letters)

• Energy Use and Carbon Footprint: Inconvenient Truths for the Cannabis Industry, Policymakers, and Consumers (Routledge Handbook on Post-prohibition Cannabis Research)

  • Summary post on LinkedIN

• The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production (Energy Policy)

• Kudos and Caveats on the 2018 New Frontier Data Study

• Energy Use in Hyper-greenhouses

• A Low Point for High Times

Policy-related 

• Harmonizing Cannabis and Environmental Policy (International Journal of Drug Policy) 

• Environmental Justice, Up in Smoke (Slate)

• Is indoor-grown Cannabis (really) of Superior Quality than Outdoor-Grown? (Medium)

• Skunky VOC Emissions are Stinking up the Green-Cannabis Proposition (Medium)

• Cannabis is Radioactive Enough. Grow it Outdoors to Keep Diablo Canyon's Closure on Schedule (San Francisco Examiner)

• From Greenrush to Greenwash

• Cannabis ESG Risk is a Buzzkill for Investors (Medium)

• Earth Day and Weed Day are an Odd Couple  (Medium) 

• To Make Cannabis Green, We Need to Grow it Outdoors (Slate)

• California: A Cannabis-climate Train Wreck in Progress

• Indoor Pot:  Climate in the Balance on November’s Ballot

Presentations

• New Research on the U.S. Cannabis Industry’s Carbon Footprint - California Department of Food and Agriculture, Office of Agricultural Resilience and Sustainability, April 30, 2025 [PDF]

• Environmental Justice: The Disproportionate Environmental Impacts of Indoor Cannabis Cultivation on Marginalized and Lower-Income Populations  - California Cannabis Research Briefing, hosted by University of California, Office of the President and the California Department of Cannabis Control, U.C. Davis, California, April 28, 2023.  [PDF]

• Indoor Cannabis Cultivation is Unsustainable - Berkeley Cannabis Research Center, U.C. Berkeley, October 20, 2021 [PDF]

• Earth Day & Weed Day are an Odd Couple - Keynote for Washington Sungrowers Industry Association, April 22, 2021 [PDF]

• Policymakers’ Primer on Addressing the Carbon Footprint of Cannabis Production - Council of State Governments Annual Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada, December 14, 2017 [PDF]

• The Carbon Footprint of Indoor Cannabis Production - Humboldt State University, Schatz Energy Research Center, Arcata, California, October 6, 2011 [PDF]