| Leah Stokes | |
| Education: | University of Toronto (BS) Columbia University (MPA) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD) |
| Fields: | Energy, climate and environmental politics |
| Thesis Title: | Power Politics: Renewable Energy Policy Change in US States |
| Thesis Url: | https://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/99079 |
| Thesis Year: | 2015 |
| Workplaces: | University of California, Santa Barbara |
| Doctoral Advisor: | Lawrence Susskind |
Leah Cardamore Stokes is a Canadian-American political scientist specializing in environmental policy.[1] [2] She is the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara.[3] [4] In addition, Stokes is a senior policy consultant at Evergreen Action and Rewiring America.[5] [6] She also hosts the climate change podcast A Matter of Degrees. Her research focuses on political behavior, public opinion, and the politics of energy and environmental policy in the United States.
Stokes earned her undergraduate degree in psychology and East Asian studies at the University of Toronto.[7] She completed a Master of Public Administration at Columbia University. After graduating, Stokes worked at Resources for the Future. She went on to work at the Parliament of Canada.[8] Her role involved policy analysis for Members of Parliament working on the Environment and Sustainable Development Committee, and the Standing Committee on Indigenous and Northern Affairs. In 2010, Stokes moved to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where she earned a master's degree and a doctorate under the supervision of Lawrence Susskind. At MIT, Stokes created environmental policy curriculum, including The Mercury Game, a treaty negotiation that has been used by over 100 universities around the world.[9]
In 2015, Stokes joined the faculty at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Her research focuses on energy policy and environmental policy in the United States.[10] She has investigated the interaction between public opinion and policy making on renewable energy.[11] She has also looked at how the design and presentation of Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) changes public support for a particular policy. She has also published research on backlash against renewable energy projects. Her recent work examines Congressional staff and their understanding of public opinion.
Stokes is also a senior policy consultant at Evergreen Action and Rewiring America, where she focuses on federal policy advocacy to address climate change and accelerate electrification.[12] In September 2021, she gave testimony on electrification to the Joint Economic Committee in Congress.[13] Tina Smith, Senator for Minnesota, described Stokes as a "powerhouse contributor" to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the largest investment into addressing climate change in United States history.[14]
In October 2020, Stokes and Katharine Wilkinson started the podcast A Matter of Degrees, in which they discuss the levers of power that have created the climate problem and the tools to fix it.[15]