Dr. Leah Stokes, University of California, Santa Barbara, has been recognized by Time Magazine 100, who noted that she was “a power­house contributor” to the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, which made the single largest investment in climate and energy in American history. 

Dr. Stokes will discuss her book The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet, which tells the story of the largest federal climate law in American history, The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The book’s plot is told through the perspectives of three new parents working in and out of government to craft the package in a precious window of political opportunity. Author Leah Stokes traces the victories and setbacks that marked the bill’s trajectory, chronicling moments of tense negotiation between President Joe Biden, Senator Chuck Schumer, and Senator Joe Manchin. Stokes’ storytelling combines memoir-style narrative of her own high-risk pregnancy with in-depth retellings of the talks that shaped the final law.

​Dr. Leah Stokes is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. She is also affiliated with the Bren School of Environmental Science & Management and the Environmental Studies Department. Stokes focuses her research on climate policy and politics. Her recent book Short Circuiting Policy examines why we are behind on climate action, telling the history of electric utilities promoting climate denial and delay. It was named the Best Energy Book of 2020 by the American Energy Society, listed as a top 5 climate book from 2020 by The New York Times, and won 3 awards from the American Political Science Association. For her exceptional engaged scholarship, Stokes was recently recognized on the 2022 TIME100 Next and Business Insider Climate Action 30 lists. Her academic work is published in top journals and is widely read and cited. She is quoted frequently in national media, has written for top outlets including The New York Times, and hosts a popular climate podcast, “A Matter of Degrees.”