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Leah Stokes

@leahstokes.bsky.social
65K followers 1.3K following 1K posts

Professor of climate + energy policy at UCSB. Alumni of MIT, Columbia and UToronto. Hosts "A Matter of Degrees" podcast. Cuts carbon pollution! Proudly 🇨🇦 Gardener 🌱 leahstokes.com; Newsletter: electricnotes.news

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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 8h
Clean energy is the cheapest way to add electricity to the grid. So is a clean grid realistic? I say yes. The real question is how fast we tear out our old one. That’s up to us. New op-ed for @livescience.com! Check it out here: www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
Trump can't stop America's shift to clean energy. And we can accelerate it.
The cost of clean energy just keeps falling as the price of coal ramps up. Politicians promising affordability will follow those savings no matter who is in the White House. And in the meantime, there...
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 01/10/2026
My book, *The Carbon Wave*, is the #1 new release in Environmental Policy! Thanks to everyone who has picked up a copy so far. My deepest hope is that this book will catalyze a lot of new climate action, so thanks for sharing it with others. Really appreciate all the support!
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Jonathan Mingle @jmingle.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
To Leah's point, I've yet to see any evidence that AI is pulling down mountains. www.nytimes.com/2026/08/29/o...
nytimes.com
Opinion | Mountains Are Coming Undone (Gift Article)
The burning of fossil fuels is pulling down the world’s highest peaks.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
“Unlike A.I., climate change’s existential threat is not hypothetical. It is killing people now." Amidst the AI-pocalypse, we can't lose sight of the climate crisis and the urgency of electrification. Gift link! shorturl.at/On4Jk
nytimes.com
The Big Threat Has Been Climate Change. Now Comes A.I. (Gift Article)
Both are human-caused, both are frightening, and one of them has raced to the forefront of the global conversation.
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Dr. Jonathan Foley @globalecoguy.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
EVs are awesome. I have a Hyundai Ioniq 5, which has a range of 300-350 miles. I charge it at home, which is convenient, and it costs me about $10 to completely recharge the battery. (84 kWh at 12 cents a kWh) Compare that to a similar size gas car, at 25-30 mpg, which would cost $54 to fill up.
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Second Ave. Sagas @2avesag.as · 28/09/2026
Is the air too clean? Are you spending too little on gas? Boy, do I have a solution for you! bsky.app/profile/lega...
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Katie Martin @katie0martin.ft.com · 25/09/2026
I have blamed The agents That hacked Your website And which You probably Reasonably thought I controlled Forgive me I am rich And unaccustomed To taking responsibility
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 26/09/2026
From Carbon Footprint to Carbon Wave: @tricyclemag.bsky.social hosts author @leahstokes.bsky.social on October 7th for a virtual talk on her empowering framework for protecting our planet. Sign up here: tricycle.org/events/carbo...
tricycle.org
From Carbon Footprint to Carbon Wave: An Event with Leah Stokes
Join us on October 7 for a free virtual event on rethinking our approach to the climate with professor Leah Stokes.
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Jessica Green @greenprofgreen.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Such a blast to host the inimitable @leahstokes.bsky.social for her book event here at @uoftenvironment.bsky.social!
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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Thank you everyone who shared news from NYCW. I stayed home and read books including “The Carbon Wave” by @leahstokes.bsky.social, which is a fantastic page-turner, insider tell-all, legislative history, memoir and blueprint for climate policymakers next time around! legal-planet.org/2026/09/24/i...
legal-planet.org
I Skipped NY Climate Week and Read These Books Instead - Legal Planet
Go read "The Carbon Wave" by Leah Stokes. The Drain is a roundup of environmental and climate news from Legal Planet.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
9 in 10 clean energy factories are still moving forward -- and last year, 93% of new grid additions were clean. From my conversation with @kkwilkinson.bsky.social at Climate Week NYC, hosted by the @allwecansave.bsky.social.
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Joshua Basseches @joshuabasseches.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
I just finished @leahstokes.bsky.social's new book, The Carbon Wave. I'd planned to read it slowly over weeks, one short chapter each day as a break from other tasks-- to unwind. Ended up reading the entire thing in 24 hours, simply because I couldn't put it down. (1/2)
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Jonathan Ladd @jonathanmladd.com · 23/09/2026
The idea that Latino voters were experiencing a long-term realignment toward Trump in 2024, which was put forth by many reactionary pundits urging acquiescence to the Trump regime, turns out to be false. As some of us argued at the time, they are just very reactive to national conditions.
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Evan George @evanlgeorge.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
I cleared today to walk the dogs and read “The Carbon Wave” by @leahstokes.bsky.social with Talk Talk’s Spirit of Eden on repeat.
Picture of a colorful book jacket with a sleeping dog in the background
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lilyquanwrites.bsky.social @lilyquanwrites.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Enjoying Carbon Wave by the great @leahstokes.bsky.social. Offers lots of insight into how political change comes about. Hint: it's not linear.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
While kids were stuck in classrooms that reached 91.9°, Gavin Newsom was busy ripping away their funding for AC to give it to a fossil fuel company. That's not climate leadership. It's just shameful. I'm optimistic that future Governor Becerra will fix this. www.independent.com/2026/09/17/t...
independent.com
Teachers Call On Santa Barbara School District to Combat Extreme Heat
After a historic heat wave, teachers say S.B. Unified needs a plan now, while the district waits for a grant funding extension for air conditioning upgrades.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A new existential threat, created by a small group of people in an industry that knew the risks, all while we are still busy dealing with another existential threat, created by the fossil fuel industry, which knew the risks. Check out my latest Substack here: open.substack.com/pub/electric...
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Tomorrow night, Wednesday Sept 16 at 7 PM, I will be in SF @greenapplebooks.bsky.social on the Park with @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social to talk about my new book, The Carbon Wave. For folks in the bay area, it would be great to see you there! Please share widely. greenapplebooks.com/event/2026-0...
greenapplebooks.com
9th Ave: Leah C. Stokes with Rebecca Solnit
Welcome to our new website! We're excited to see you. *** RETURNING USERS WILL NEED TO RESET THEIR PASSWORD FOR THIS NEW SITE. CLICK HERE TO RESET YOUR PASSWORD.***
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This summer, 35,000 heat deaths in Europe got one news cycle. Last week, a probability estimate about a hypothetical AI apocalypse got seven. The warnings may be sincere—but notice what they justify: fossil fuel plants. Climate change is existential now. electricnotes.news/p/pick-your-...
electricnotes.news
Pick Your Apocalypse: Climate vs. AI Doom
Some Thoughts On the *Other* Existential Threat
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Covering Climate Now @coveringclimatenow.org · 09/09/2026
Join Covering Climate Now and @canarymedia.com for a timely conversation digging into what’s causing the energy affordability crisis and its climate connections. Come with questions, leave with story ideas! RSVP here: us02web.zoom.us/webinar/regi...
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Ross Macfarlane @rossmacfarlane.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Great essay. Pick your side -- fighting for life on a habitable planet with a stable climate or aligning with the tech oligarchs who are accelerating an AI apocalypse. @leahstokes.bsky.social
open.substack.com
Pick Your Apocalypse: Climate vs. AI Doom
Some Thoughts On the *Other* Existential Threat
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
This summer, 35,000 heat deaths in Europe got one news cycle. Last week, a probability estimate about a hypothetical AI apocalypse got seven. The warnings may be sincere—but notice what they justify: fossil fuel plants. Climate change is existential now. electricnotes.news/p/pick-your-...
electricnotes.news
Pick Your Apocalypse: Climate vs. AI Doom
Some Thoughts On the *Other* Existential Threat
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
Drops in the ocean can make waves. 💦🌊 A story of how the grassroots climate movement took off in the US. Check out this excerpt from my new book "The Carbon Wave," @livescience.com. www.livescience.com/planet-earth...
livescience.com
'Drops in the ocean can make waves': How the grassroots climate movement took off in the US
In 2018, calls for a Green New Deal broke into climate policy. In this excerpt from "The Carbon Wave," author Leah Stokes explores the lead-up to that moment and the wave of environmental action that ...
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"The Green New Deal held a force like gravity, pulling people into its orbit." @leahstokes.bsky.social @livescience.com
livescience.com
'Drops in the ocean can make waves': How the grassroots climate movement took off in the US
In 2018, calls for a Green New Deal broke into climate policy. In this excerpt from "The Carbon Wave," author Leah Stokes explores the lead-up to that moment and the wave of environmental action that…
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
"Whatever negative impacts we have on the planet from living in a fossil-fuel society can be offset by our activism if we join with others to change it. Working together, we can make waves." @leahstokes.bsky.social
thereader.mitpress.mit.edu
The Climate Crisis Is Bigger Than Your Footprint
The climate crisis won’t be solved with lifestyle choices but through political pressure and bold collective action.
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
"Engaging and hopeful [...] this is an important book, highlighting the need for collective action to reduce carbon emissions for our generation and generations to come." @science.org recommends @leahstokes.bsky.social's new book, "The Carbon Wave."
science.org
Fall Books 2026
Fields marked with * are required
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Ayana Elizabeth Johnson @ayanaeliza.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Who’s in for the EV utopia? 🚗 🚲 . . You can listen to our full conversation with/ @leahstokes.bsky.social “Climate hushing, EVs 🔌 and creating “The Carbon Wave” on Season 5 of What If We Get It Right? Wherever you get your podcasts. 🎙️ getitright.earth/podcast
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
For those in Berkeley, I added another stop on my book tour next week at the Copper Home headquarters. Come check out their induction stoves and my new book on Tuesday (9/15) at 5 PM. The first 15 people to register will get a free copy. Here’s a link to register: copperhome.com/pages/events
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Maurice Mitchell 🐺 @mauricewfp.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
LANDSLIDE in Providence. @workingfamilies.org champion @davidmoralespvd.bsky.social defeated the incumbent mayor, who spent $1 million and had the backing of the Dem establishment. That's not all: @ri.workingfamilies.org champions swept city council races. We're building a governing majority. 🔥🐺
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Hey Greensky! @markhertsgaard.bsky.social who runs @coveringclimatenow.org and makes sure the media pays attention to climate change has joined us here on bluesky! You should follow him. ♥️🌱🌏
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
Not sure people understand how bad El Niño already is. In Southern California today, we had an offshore pacific hurricane (not normal) take out homes and beaches. We had temperatures topping 111°F with high humidity. There's a fire in LA. And we are just getting started with El Niño.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
It felt like 111°F in SoCal today. Tonight, we'll keep the lights on with a virtual power plant (DSGS) Newsom tried to kill. Meanwhile, kids are sitting in sweltering classrooms because he raided the fund for school AC (CalSHAPE). This is not climate leadership. electricnotes.news/p/california...
electricnotes.news
California’s kids deserve better.
Our school electrification program could be on the chopping block during another record heat wave.
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
@dailykos.com includes @leahstokes.bsky.social's "The Carbon Wave" among this week's notable new nonfiction: www.dailykos.com/stories/2026...
dailykos.com
Nonfiction Views: A peek at the new bio of Roy Cohn, and other notable new nonfiction of the week
Good evening, everyone. The fall publishing season is beginning, and while there were more new releases to sift through this week than there had been during the summer month, I didn’t find as many…
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 07/09/2026
Seattle friends! I'm talking with @leahstokes.bsky.social about her new book at Town Hall on the 14th. The first 10 card-carrying paid subscribers who email Nate get in free. Details in the note:
volts.wtf
Win tickets to an upcoming event! My NY climate week lineup, new faces at Volts, and just, hey, how’s it going
Also: dogs, Denmark, and a birthday request. Mostly dogs.
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
🎫 Tonight: Join a free, virtual event with author Leah Stokes and learn how to form your own carbon wave to make climate progress in your community: thirdact.org/events/the-c...
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
If you can't make it to one of my in-person events, join us online tomorrow for a free event at 7 PM ET / 4 PM PT, hosted by Third Act. I'll be in conversation with Bill McKibben and Rebecca Solnit, with a Q&A at the end. RSVP here: thirdact.org/events/the-c...
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Ayana Elizabeth Johnson @ayanaeliza.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
1st episode of podcast season 5 is live! @billmckibben.bsky.social and I interviewed Dr. @leahstokes.bsky.social to reflect/debrief on the IRA, bemoan the absurdity of climate hushing, and hear her pitch for abandoning the term “carbon footprint.” ayanaelizabeth.substack.com/p/climate-hu...
ayanaelizabeth.substack.com
Climate hushing, EVs 🔌 and creating “The Carbon Wave,” with Leah Stokes
We are live with podcast Season 5 🎙️✨
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Sarah McAnulty, Ph.D. @sarahmackattack.bsky.social · 05/09/2026
Please repost! Drexel announced that it will close the Academy of Natural Sciences public museum- the oldest nat history museum in the US. There are 2 petitions to support the academy. Please sign both & come to our rally Tues. actionnetwork.org/petitions/pe... www.change.org/p/the-academ...
A poster featuring the T-Rex at the cognitive natural sciences, which says save the Academy natural sciences, museum rally in front of the academy 1900 Ben Franklin Parkway, Tuesday, September 8 10 AM. The T-Rex is saying tell Drexel keep the museum open. There’s an RSVP QR code and then the logos of Philly Science Action Skype scientist In Philly on the bottom.
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Resist 🕎🍉 @antizionistjew.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
ChatGPT was responsible for the Tumbler Ridge mass shooting in Canada, leaving 9 dead & 27 Injured ChatGPT provided "substantial assistance and encouragement" to the shooter, and even though workers saw the messages - they didn't call the police GPT-4o tendency to agree lead to other similar cases
futurism.com
OpenAI Is Now Facing Over 50 Consumer Harm and Wrongful Death Lawsuits
OpenAI was hit with 30 new lawsuits overs its alleged role in the Tumbler Ridge school massacre. It now faces over 50 consumer harm lawsuits.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
For folks at APSA, my book panel on The Carbon Wave is tomorrow at 4 PM. With Kathy Thelen, @povertyscholar.bsky.social, Barry Rabe, @jacobhacker.bsky.social and Paul Pierson. @mitpress.bsky.social Will also be selling books at the panel. Would love to see colleagues and friends there!
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Rebecca Solnit @rebeccasolnit.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
@leahstokes.bsky.social's fabulous new book is out and read about it here, but order it anywhere (but Amazon):
yaleclimateconnections.org
Inside the passage of America’s biggest climate law » Yale Climate Connections
In a new memoir, author Leah Stokes takes readers behind the scenes of U.S. democracy – and shows how people can still have an outsize impact by working together.
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Newsom withheld *legislatively appropriated* school AC funds for 2 years. Now he's handing them to a fossil fuel company, the week after half a million kids had their school day changed by extreme heat. If that's not Trumpian, I don't know what is. Shameful. calmatters.org/environment/...
calmatters.org
California lawmakers let schools' AC funding lapse, handing $191 million back to utilities
Despite sweltering classrooms and a heat wave, the state chose to return unspent CalSHAPE funds to ratepayers.
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David Roberts @volts.wtf · 01/09/2026
If you're in Seattle, come and see me chat with Leah about her new book on Sep. 14 at Town Hall!
townhallseattle.org
Leah C. Stokes with David Roberts | Town Hall Seattle
They were perhaps an unlikely trio: the professor Leah Stokes, the policy wonk Sonia Aggarwal in the White House, and the DC insider Adrian Deveny in the Senate, but together, they crafted the boldest...
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Leah Stokes @leahstokes.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
It's publication day for The Carbon Wave! Thank you to everyone who has already bought a copy. Until Friday you can buy signed copies at Brookline Booksmith: brooklinebooksmith.com/book/9780262... Book tour: thecarbonwave.com/tour Book club: electricnotes.news/p/climate-bo...
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Pooja Shah @poojashah.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
Just finished The Carbon Wave by @leahstokes.bsky.social, and I’m honestly not sure whether to call it a climate book, a political thriller, a masterclass in persistence, or an emotional ambush disguised as a policy narrative.
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
"The climate crisis is accelerating," @leahstokes.bsky.social, author of “The Carbon Wave," told @apnews.com. "We can’t really not talk about it for like a decade, because the planet will be even more on fire if we do that."
apnews.com
The Earth is sizzling, but climate isn't a hot topic for Democrats in this year's campaigns
Climate change has become a less prominent election-year issue for Democrats as voters say concerns such as affordability are more pressing.
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MIT Press @mitpress.bsky.social · 01/09/2026
In "The Carbon Wave," climate advocate @leahstokes.bsky.social chronicles the turbulent path of the largest climate law in American history alongside policy wonk Sonia Aggarwal in the White House, and DC insider Adrian Deveny in the Senate: lnkd.in/e_a34nCt
A copy of "The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet" by Leah C, Stoke on a white background. The cover features stylized waves in blues, purples, and greens.
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Bill McKibben @billmckibben.bsky.social · 30/08/2026
This seems like a very good question
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