Please join the Center for Political Economy's Political Economy of Climate Lab on Wednesday, October 14 from 6:00-8:00 PM EST for a fireside chat, The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet with Leah Stokes, Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at UC Santa Barbara.
Dr. Stokes will be in conversation with Nikhar Gaikwad, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science Columbia University to discuss Stokes’s book the 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, 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.
