According to a new excerpt from “The Carbon Wave” by Leah Stokes, the modern U.S. climate movement gained decisive momentum through a convergence of personal tragedy, scientific urgency, and youthful organizing. Stokes, an associate professor of environmental politics at the University of California, Santa Barbara, examines how a relatively obscure representative and a network of activists managed to place climate change at the forefront of national politics.
The catalyst for AOC’s political journey was deeply personal. In September 2017, while still a private citizen, she watched Hurricane Maria devastate Puerto Rico. The storm destroyed electricity for months and claimed the life of her grandfather, starkly illustrating how climate disasters disproportionately affect vulnerable communities. This experience built upon earlier exposure to environmental injustice; in 2016, she had traveled to Standing Rock, North Dakota, to witness the resistance against fossil fuel infrastructure impacting Indigenous peoples.
Moments after leaving the Standing Rock protest, Ocasio-Cortez was recruited by a progressive organization to run for Congress. She accepted, launching a surprising primary campaign in a Bronx district held by a ten-term incumbent in House leadership. Her platform centered on the Green New Deal, an concept she had previously discussed but which lacked detailed policy development. She framed the initiative as a mobilization effort comparable to World War II or the Marshall Plan, arguing for massive public investment in green energy manufacturing and distribution.
Her victory in June 2018 signaled a major shift in the political landscape. That same autumn, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a pivotal report warning that limiting global warming to 1.5°C required cutting emissions nearly in half by 2030. The stark timeline, summarized by headlines such as “We Have 12 Years to Limit Climate Catastrophe,” galvanized public opinion and shifted the perception of climate change from a distant threat to an immediate crisis.
Following Democratic gains in the 2018 midterms, which returned Nancy Pelosi as Speaker of the House, a group of Sunrise Movement activists staged a sit-in at her office. Dressed in yellow and black, they held signs asking, “We have 12 years. What’s your plan?” Ocasio-Cortez joined the protest and urged the organizers to demand a Green New Deal explicitly, a move that secured widespread media coverage and established a tangible policy goal for the movement.
The momentum eventually drew academic and activist leaders together. In March 2019, a policy convening was held in Washington, D.C., attended by youth activists, environmental justice leaders, and researchers. It was at this gathering that Stokes met Varshini Prakash, then executive director of the Sunrise Movement. Prakash, who had become a visible face of the protests, spoke emotionally about the psychological burden carried by young activists, highlighting the intense stress within the movement.
Stokes notes that while the meeting revealed tensions regarding the inclusion of frontline communities, it also demonstrated the power of collective action. She argues against the linear view that individual actions are insufficient to challenge entrenched fossil fuel interests. Instead, she suggests that grassroots efforts, much like drops in an ocean, can generate significant waves of change, proving that dogged perseverance and unity can alter the course of history.
“The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet” is published by MIT Press. The full work includes updates on legislative rollbacks and progress during the second Trump administration.
The book updates during the second Trump administration must be grim. I hope the grassroots momentum survived those rollbacks.
Stokes’ ocean metaphor is compelling. It reminds me that sustained local action often outweighs single big events.
The timeline from 2017 to 2019 is impressive. Who would have thought a Bronx primary upset could shift national climate policy?
Did the Sunrise Movement’s sit-in really pressure Pelosi enough? Seems like the bill stalled immediately after.
Hurricane Maria hitting her family made this personal, not just political. That connection is why the movement stuck.