Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States

Thursday, April 9, 2020 at 3:00 PM until 4:00 PMEastern Daylight Time UTC -04:00

Join Leah Stokes as she discusses her new book Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States.

The book exams clean energy laws in Texas, Kansas, Arizona, and Ohio over a thirty-year time frame, Stokes argues that organized combat between advocate and opponent interest groups is central to explaining why states are not on track to address the climate crisis. She tells the political history of our energy institutions, explaining how fossil fuel companies and electric utilities have promoted climate denial and delay. Stokes further explains the limits of policy feedback theory, showing the ways that interest groups drive retrenchment through lobbying, public opinion, political parties and the courts. More than a history of renewable energy policy in modern America, Short Circuiting Policy offers a bold new argument about how the policy process works, and why seeming victories can turn into losses when the opposition has enough resources to roll back laws.


About the Author:

Leah Stokes completed her PhD in Public Policy in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning’s Environmental Policy & Planning group at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Stokes also received a masters from MIT's Political Science Department. Before that, she completed an MPA in Environmental Science & Policy at the School of International & Public Affairs (SIPA) and the Earth Institute at Columbia University. Stokes also has a BSc in Psychology and East Asian Studies from the University of Toronto. Prior to academia, she worked at the Parliament of Canada and Resources for the Future.

You can pre-order the book here.

 

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