The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Stokes, Leah C.
The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Stokes, Leah C.

The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet

The true, inspiring story of the new parents who spearheaded an unlikely climate victory. From the rising...
$39.54 USD
$39.54 USD
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Author: Leah C. Stokes
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Subtotal: $39.54
The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Stokes, Leah C.

The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet

$39.54
The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Stokes, Leah C.

The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet

$39.54
Author: Leah C. Stokes
Format: Hardcover
Language: English
Description
The true, inspiring story of the new parents who spearheaded an unlikely climate victory.

From the rising climate advocate named to the Time100 Next list, for political junkies and anyone who cares about the environment.

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 climate legislation of our time. In The Carbon Wave, Stokes chronicles the turbulent path of their climate bill as it veered between breakthrough and collapse--from the hopeful beginnings of the Green New Deal in 2018, to the bill's near-certain defeat by Senator Joe Manchin in the winter of 2021, to the surprise passage of the landmark legislation in August 2022. During this critical time, the author was pregnant or in the NICU with her premature twins, and Aggarwal and Deveny were new parents too.

Interlacing personal narratives with stories from Congress, the White House, and outside activists, Stokes shows how dogged perseverance and collective action can still bend the course of history. The book concludes with an update from the second Trump administration, explaining the parts of the bill that were--and were not--rolled back, and why we should remain hopeful that progress is still being made.

Everyone has been told to shrink their carbon footprint and lighten their load on our planet by changing their behavior. But what if instead of making ourselves smaller, we joined with others to maximize our impact? That's the carbon wave. And this book shows us how to make it.

Author: Leah C. Stokes
Publisher: MIT Press
Published: 09/01/2026
Pages: 328
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 9.28h x 6.32w x 1.22d
ISBN: 9780262054775


Review Citation(s):
Foreword 08/27/2026

About the Author
Leah C. Stokes is Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at UC Santa Barbara. As a leading climate advocate, she has championed climate policy in the United States at all levels of government and was selected for Time Magazine's Time100 Next list and Business Insider's top 30 global climate leaders. A recipient of a Harvard University Radcliffe Fellowship, she is the author of the award-winning Short Circuiting Policy, which was listed as one of the top 5 climate books in 2020 by The New York Times.
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