Recorded on April 6, 2023, this video features a talk by Leah Stokes, the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics in the Department of Political Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

Professor Stokes discussed the creation and ramifications of the Inflation Reduction Act for climate policy. She explained the process of agenda-setting and policy crafting for this legislation, including how the agenda for climate policy was influenced by activist groups during the Democratic presidential primaries, and how networks of climate groups worked together over the first two years of the Biden-Harris administration to craft what was initially the American Jobs Plan, then Build Back Better, then the Inflation Reduction Act.

About the Speaker

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 three 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.”

This event was co-sponsored by the Berkeley Economy and Society Initiative (BESI) and the Network for a New Political Economy (N2PE).