Leah Stokes

We’ve already warmed the planet over 1°C above pre-industrial levels. To limit further warming and climate impacts, scientists are clear that we need to cut emissions in half by 2030. To meet these targets, we must make progress on clean electricity and electrification, says renowned climate expert, policy strategist and UC Santa Barbara professor Leah Stokes. In the U.S., that means we need to expand the grid by a factor of two and grow renewables by a factor of eight – a daunting pace of growth – in order to power our homes, businesses, cars and trucks, and parts of heavy industry. In this talk, Stokes explains why piecemeal actions from states and cities is not enough, and why we need a national policy to meet these targets, including large scale investment from the federal government and private industry. She also explains why cleaning up the electricity system is the first linchpin in globally tackling the climate crisis.

When people hear about the climate crisis, they often ask the same question: “What can I do?” They often look to make changes in their own lives. While that is a valuable training ground, changing your own behavior is not as powerful as changing the institutions around you, says renowned climate expert, policy strategist and UC Santa Barbara professor Leah Stokes. In this talk she outlines a framework for taking climate action – starting with yourself, then moving outward into community, and finally toward impacting policy change. Participants are empowered with the tools they need to chip away at laws and corporate policies so they can play a part in cutting pollution, with the goal of addressing the climate crisis.