Energy Policy

Short-Circuiting Policy, Leah Stokes, 2020

Sophia Pascente

Leah Stokes is one of the brightest minds in the field of energy policy analysis, and that shines through in her book Short Circuiting Policy. Stokes highlights the analysis of state-level energy policy throughout several case studies in the book. However, her lecture at the University of Pennsylvania discusses federal policy failures such as the struggle to pass a renewable portfolio standard. That being said, but the most engaging part of the lecture centered on interest group impacts upon environmental and energy policy. With fossil fuel companies and electric utilities resisting the clean energy transition through lobbying, implementation resistance, and election influence, Stokes highlights the myriad of ways energy policy has been undermined federally. It was this section of the lecture that truly resonated with me, as it highlighted the need for community buy in, in the pursuit of future energy policies. Stokes deftly discusses the intersection of energy policy and environmental justice, through which she ties the cleaning of the energy grid by 2035 into positively impacting communities of color. That framework reinforces the importance of a project such as ours. In order to visualize the impacts that energy accessibility has on a community, you have to engage with community members it impacts.