Leah Stokes brings urgency, optimism to fight to save the planet

The 1990s produced a lot of bad ideas, from grunge fashion to New Coke. But there’s one Leah Stokes particularly dislikes: the notion of a “carbon footprint.”

You remember that one. To protect the planet from the ravages of climate change, we were told that each of us needed to alter our lifestyles. Carpool to work. Limit your use of heating and air conditioning. Don’t even think about flying.

In retrospect, all of those recommendations have one thing in common, noted Stokes, the Anton Vonk Associate Professor of Environmental Politics at UC Santa Barbara. Each of them is about “making a behavioral change within a fossil-fuel energy structure.” The energy companies aren’t asked to compromise: We are, because we, apparently, are the problem.

Stokes understands the threat of rising global temperatures better than most, but she approaches the issue from an entirely different perspective. We can still use as much energy as we need; we just need to upgrade the machines that provide it. 

“I am talking about swapping out the hardware,” she said. “Replacing a gasoline-powered car with an electric vehicle isn’t behavioral change — it’s infrastructure change.” 

Today, electricity can be, and increasingly is, generated in ways that don’t involve burning fossil fuels. So, electrifying your household — swapping out your gas stove for an electric one, or replacing your gas heating system with a heat pump — is a way to lessen your environmental impact that does not require sweating through the summer or wearing wool sweaters all winter.

“Now, you don’t have to stop at your own home,” Stokes added. “You can work with others in your community to electrify your local school or church, or lobby for your city’s car fleet to be EVs. Change happens one person at a time, joining with others to shift the system.”