Leah Cardamore Stokes is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of California Santa Barbara. Her research and writing on climate change and energy policy has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, The Guardian, as well as numerous scholarly journals.

Winner, 2021 Alan Rosenthal Prize, Legislative Studies Section, American Political Science Association
Winner, 2021 Virginia Gray Book Award, State Politics and Policy Section, American Political Science Association

"Stokes has written a highly readable and compelling book that will be of interest to environmental policy scholars and the general public alike" -- Saleem H. Ali, Science Mag

"This is a book of the very first importance, a stunningly good piece of investigation that lays bare the answer to what may be the world's most important mystery: why are we moving so slowly to address the greatest crisis the planet has ever faced? It should be read-and memorized-by everyone who deals with energy policy in any way, shape, or form." -- Bill McKibben, Middlebury College

"With Washington gridlocked or worse, advocates for action on climate change have looked to the states for leadership. In this deeply researched and sobering analysis, Leah Stokes shows why these hopes must be combined with vigilance and tenacity. Even where states have managed to introduce innovative reforms, Stokes shows, deeply entrenched and resourceful fossil fuel interests can often regain the upper hand." -- Paul Pierson, University of California-Berkeley

"With US national politics deadlocked under right-wing dominance, crucial battles over clean energy are playing out in the states. In this brilliant new book, Leah Stokes spells out exactly how and why entrenched interests can take advantage of weak, ambiguous laws to achieve costly delays and hobble infant clean energy sources. All citizens fighting for effective responses to global warming should heed the lessons in this book-and scholars studying policy battles in many other realms have much to learn from it as well." -- Theda R. Skopol, Harvard University and Scholars Strategy Network