Commentary
We are frequent climate communicators, speaking regularly with journalists about climate and energy policy and politics.
2024
Mahdavi quoted in “Trump has vowed to gut climate rules. Oil lobbyists have a plan ready,” The Washington Post, October 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Harris campaign hires Thorndike as climate engagement director,” Politico, September, 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Survey shows more Americans worried about cost of fighting climate change,” Marketplace, August 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Coal Power Defined This Minnesota Town. Can Solar Win It Over?” The New York Times, August 2024.
Anderson quoted in “Learning to Live with Wildfire Rather than Just Fighting It,” Santa Barbara Independent, August 2024.
Mildenberger quoted in “Politicians don’t get how popular climate action is. That’s a problem,” Grist, August 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Americans tapped $8 billion in tax credits on home energy upgrades,” The Washington Post, August 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Climate leaders say Harris has ‘lit an electric spark’ with young voters,” The Washington Post, July 2024.
Stokes quoted in “What Kamala Harris’ California Roots Reveal About Her Environmental Priorities,” KQED, July 2024.
Mahdavi quoted in “Solar-Powered Oil Drilling?” Sierra, July 2024.
Stokes quoted in “What Kamala Harris’s historic bid for the US presidency means for science,” Nature, July 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Environmental groups ‘ecstatic’ over Kamala Harris’ candidacy and California climate record,” Los Angeles Times, July 2024.
Stokes quoted in “Amazon Says It Reached a Climate Goal Seven Years Early,” The New York Times, July 2024.
Mildenberger quoted in “Is carbon pricing a politically feasible climate policy? Research says maybe not,” The Canadian Press, June 2024
Stokes quoted in “Why some drivers are still hesitant to go electric,” Marketplace, May 2024
Mildenberger quoted in “This social sciences hub galvanized India’s dynamic growth. Can it survive?” Nature, April 2024
Stokes quoted in “How the power plant rule might change as its deadline nears,” E&E News, April 2024
Mahdavi quoted in “Canada is still backing the fossil fuel industry with billions, report finds,” CBC News, March 2024
Deshmukh quoted in “Offshore wind or tribal rights? Biden’s California dilemma,” E&E News, March 2024
Mildenberger quoted in “Have we been talking about climate change all wrong?” National Geographic, February 2024
Wu quoted in “They hoped solar panels would secure the future of their farm. Then their neighbors found out,” USA Today, February 2024
Stokes quoted in “America’s Natural Gas Conundrum,” Santa Barbara Independent, February 2024
Stokes quoted in “Biden courts angry climate voters. Will it work?” Politico, January 2024
Stokes quoted in “How Texas Kept the Lights On in the Recent Deep Freeze,” The New York Times, January 2024.
2023
Stokes quoted in “Vermont utility plans to end outages by giving customers batteries,” The Denver Post, December 2023.
Wu quoted in “Climate and conservation clash: Why this Houston County naturalist is fighting a solar farm,” The Telegraph, December 2023.
Anderson quoted in “Wildfires Threaten More Homes and People in the U.S. Than Ever Before,” Scientific American, November 2023.
Stokes quoted in “State utility company shares brilliant plan to combat influx of power outages: ‘People’s lives are on the line’,” The Cool Down, November 2023.
Stokes quoted in “How to electrify your life when you rent,” The Verge, November 2023
Stokes quoted in “Green Mountain Power Takes A Bold Step Toward Energy Resiliency,” CleanTechnica, October 2023.
Mahdavi interviewed for “ExxonMobil makes a $60 billion oil deal, doubling down on fossil fuels,” NPR, October 2023.
Stokes interviewed for “Leah Stokes on the challenges ahead for the Inflation Reduction Act,” MIT Technology Review, October 2023.
Stokes quoted in “Americans don’t hate living near solar and wind farms as much as you might think,” The Washington Post, October 2023.
Stokes quoted in “It’s Too Easy to Block a Wind Farm in America,” Heatmap, September 2023.
Deshmukh quoted in “California's green drive leaves its oil towns behind,” The Daily Sentinel, September 2023.
Stokes quoted in “Rich, white communities most likely to oppose wind farms, study finds,” CNN, September 2023.
2022
Stokes quoted in “The climate bill passed — now comes the hard part,” WBUR, August 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Sweeping budget package could give Senate Democrats a midterm boost.” Courthouse News, August 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Ambitious bill leads to 40% cut in emissions, models show,” Science, August 2022.
Stokes quoted in “The Climate Future Just Changed: Eight Predictions for 2030,” Bloomberg Green, August 2022.
Stokes interviewed for “UCSB Prof Helped Shape Landmark Climate Bill, Calls for Santa Barbara to Cut Red Tape,” Santa Barbara Independent, August 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Climate bill could slash US emissions by 40% after historic Senate vote,” The Guardian, August 2022.
Stokes quoted in “How the climate bill could save you money and change what you buy,” Washington Post, July 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Alternatives to Russian energy leave Europe dependent on countries ‘with a terrible record of violating human rights.’” Expresso, July 2022. (written in Portuguese)
Stokes quoted in “U.S. Senate climate deal 'transformative', backers say,” Reuters, July 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Oil and Gas, and Bitcoin: An ‘Inevitable Intersection’?” American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) Explorer, July 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Joe Manchin Throws Fuel on the Fire of a Burning Planet,” Vanity Fair, July 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Manchin rejects climate and energy provisions in reconciliation bill,” CBS News, July 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Supreme Court ruling passes climate change fight off to a hobbled Congress,” Courthouse News, July 2022.
Anderson quoted in “Can Open Primaries Reduce Polarization?” Divided We Fall, June 2022.
Stokes quoted in “A Hotter, Poorer, and Less Free America,” The Atlantic, June 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Supreme Court Curbs EPA’s Power to Limit Climate-Warming Emissions,” Truthout, June 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Why Joe Biden is invoking a war power to build heat pumps and solar panels,” Vox, June 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Removing fuel subsidies without political backlash: An alternative to the present approach in Ecuador,” The Bulletin, May 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Why fossil fuel companies see green in Bitcoin mining projects,” The Verge / Vox, May 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Your Kids Are Not Doomed,” The New York Times, April 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Solar Industry ‘Frozen’ as Biden Administration Investigates China.” The New York Times, April 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “This is what politicians mean when they talk about 'clean oil' from Newfoundland's offshore.“ CBC News, April 2022.
Stokes quoted in “We’re in a Fossil Fuel War. Biden Should Say So.” The New York Times, March 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Want to Reduce Dependence on Russian Energy? Get a Heat Pump.” The Washington Post, March 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Why $100 oil could hurt the energy transition more than it helps.“ NASDAQ / Reuters, March 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Americans' satisfaction with energy policy is at its lowest in two decades. Blame gas prices.” CNN, February 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Biden’s petrol problem: president eyes gas tax cut as pump prices soar.” Financial Times, February 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “US faces a ‘time crunch’ to reach Biden’s offshore wind target.” Financial Times - The Energy Source, February 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “So What the Heck Is Net Zero, Anyway?” Sierra Magazine, February 2022.
Mildenberger featured in “Not Even Free Money Can Fix a Carbon Tax.” The Atlantic, January 2022.
Mildenberger featured in “Do dividends make carbon taxes more popular? Apparently not.” Volts, January 2022.
Stokes quoted in “A Fight Over Rooftop Solar Threatens California’s Climate Goals.” New York Times, January 2022.
Stokes quoted in “It’s Manchin’s climate bill now. Here’s what might be in it.” E&E News, January 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Exxon pledges to cut emissions — but not from its oil.“ Grist, January 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “ExxonMobil aims for net zero greenhouse gas emissions from operations by 2050.“ The Washington Post, January 2022.
Mahdavi quoted in “Exxon pledges net-zero goal for its operations by 2050 - but target won’t include customer usage.” Daily Mail, January 2022.
Stokes quoted in “Climate advocates argue against breaking up BBB, call it a 'mistake' for Democrats and the planet.” The Washington Post, January 2022.
Mildenberger quoted in “Is American democracy uniquely bad at tackling climate change?.” Grist, January 2022.
2021
Stokes quoted in “It’s Been a Bad Week for Build Back Better. Here’s What It Means.” New York Times, December 2021.
Mildenberger quoted in “The Achilles’ heel of Biden’s climate plan? Coal miners.” The Seattle Times, December 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in “A ‘false solution’? How crypto mining became the oil industry’s new hope.“ The Guardian, December 2021.
Mahdavi featured in “Fossil fuel subsidies: If we want to reduce greenhouse gas emissions we should not pay people to burn fossil-fuels.“ Our World In Data, November 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in “Big Oil wants to be Big Wind. Can drillers be trusted?” E&E News Climate Wire, October 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Biden plan pledges ‘largest effort to combat climate change in US history.’” The Guardian, October 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in NPR and WBUR Boston Series on Offshore Wind, October 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Democrats' Feuds Over Biden's Plans Should Have Cooled During Recess. Instead They Heated Up.” Newsweek, October 2021.
Buntaine quoted in “Public participation in the management of China's waterways improves their water quality.” Phys.org, September 2021.
Mahdavi featured in “Authoritarianism and Nationalizing Natural Resources.” War on the Rocks, September 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in “Oil Companies’ Claims About Going Green Just a Drop in Bucket.” Noozhawk Santa Barbara, September 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in “An Examination of What Oil Companies Say and What They Do.” Santa Barbara Independent, September 2021.
Stokes quoted in “White House asks Congress to pass emergency funding for disaster aid, Afghan resettlement as well as spending bill to avert shutdown.” The Washington Post, September 2021.
Stokes quoted in “First on CNN: Democrats' clean electricity program would create nearly 8 million jobs by 2031, analysis shows.” CNN, September 2021.
Anderson quoted in “No matter the fire risk, California insurance companies can’t cancel your policy,” Grist, August 2021.
Mildenberger quoted in “The World’s on Fire, Yet Australia Keeps Pumping Out the Gas.” VICE, August 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Dire Climate Report Puts Ball Squarely in America’s Court.” Mother Jones, August 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Democrats Have a Year to Save the Planet.” New York Times, June 2021.
Stokes quoted in “White House to face key decisions on climate, elder care if bipartisan deal with GOP emerges.” The Washington Post, May 2021.
Mildenberger quoted in “An Outdated Idea is Still Shaping Climate Policy.” The Atlantic, April 2021.
Stokes quoted in “A Bold Action Plan for a Stable Climate.” Sierra Magazine, April 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Biden’s Bet on a Climate Transition Carries Big Risks.” New York Times, April 2021.
Stokes quoted in “An Earth Day message for California: Move faster on climate change.” Los Angeles Times, April 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Biden’s Infrastructure Plan Would Make Electricity Carbon-Free by 2035.” Scientific American, April 2021.
Stokes quoted in “How Biden's zero-carbon revolution would broaden the energy map.” CNN, April 2021.
Mildenberger quoted in “Big Oil Backs Carbon Tax.” Reason, March 2021.
Mildenberger quoted in “The Petroleum Industry May Want a Carbon Tax, but Biden and Republicans are Not Necessarily Fans.” InsideClimate News, March 2021.
Mahdavi featured in "Going nowhere: the offshore industry’s methane problem." Offshore Technology, March 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in "Can OPEC Rescue the Planet?" The New Republic, March 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Biden’s most important climate promise hinges on how his next big bill gets through Congress.” Vox, March 2021.
Mahdavi quoted in ''Chevron Gave More Than $1 Million to Lawmakers Who Voted to Overturn the Presidential Election.'' KQED, February 2021.
Stokes quoted in “Gassed Up: How the energy industry tricked Americans into loving a dangerous appliance.” Slate, February 2021.
Stokes featured in “2021 Energy Predictions: U.S. Clean Energy Standard, Tripling Energy Storage, State Shift From Gas, Electricity Transition, Billions In Climate Investment.” Forbes, January 2021.
Mahdavi quoted for "CALPIRG `Gasland II’ Documentary Screening" January 2021.
2020
Anderson quoted in “Wealthier, Whiter Areas Are More Likely to Get Help After Fires, Data Show.” New York Times, December 2020.
Anderson quoted in “The Federal Government Spends More on Fire Prevention in Rich, White Neighborhoods,” Gizmodo, December 2020.
Anderson quoted in “Biden wants to bring Democrats and Republicans together. Here’s why that’s so challenging,” Washington Post, December 2020.
Mildenberger quoted in “Joe Biden is about to floor it to a green future - can he meet his goal?” MassLive, December 2020.
Mildenberger quoted in “Joe Biden's About to Floor It to a Green Future -- Straight Into State Speed Traps.” RealClear Investigations, December 2020.
Mildenberger quoted in “All Politics Is Local, Including Climate Politics.” Bloomberg, December 2020.
Mildenberger quoted in “Environmental policy is labor policy, and Biden must make that clear.” Fortune, December 2020.
Stokes quoted in “The most consequential impact of Trump’s climate policies? Wasted time.” National Geographic, December 2020.
Stokes quoted in “The fossil fuel industry wants you to believe it’s good for people of color.” Los Angeles Times, November 2020.
Mahdavi featured in “How America’s oil drilling boom threatens the world.“ Engineering & Technology, October 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Exxon Is Losing the Energy Transition.” Greentech Media, October 2020.
Mildenberger quoted in “Behind the Battle for the Future of California’s Oil.” KQED, October 2020.
Mahdavi quoted in "Strong California Gas Demand Unlikely to Return, as Even Refineries Go Renewable." KQED, September 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Biden gambles on placing climate change at heart of US energy policy.” Financial Times, August 2020.
Stokes quoted in “A Totally Green Electric Grid Will Dramatically Speed Up Climate Action.” Bloomberg Green, July 2020.
Mahdavi featured in "Capture the fugitive gas: Two ideas to design more effective policies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions" Phys.org, May 2020.
Mahdavi quoted in "Daily on Energy" Washington Examiner, May 2020.
Mahdavi quoted in “Sneaky Leaks” The UCSB Current, May 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Older voters prefer Biden. That could push him on climate.” E&E News, May 2020.
Mahdavi quoted in "Falling oil prices breathe new life into an old idea: Nationalize the industry." Grist, April 2020.
Stokes quoted in “An Unintended Consequence of COVID-19 Shutdowns? Blue Skies and Cleaner Air.” Vogue, April 2020.
Stokes featured in “How quickly do we need to ramp up renewables? Look to the narwhal.” Grist, April 2020.
Mahdavi quoted in “Rigged States” The UCSB Current, April 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Here's what a coronavirus-like response to the climate crisis would look like.” Los Angeles Times, March 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Biden Plans Show How Party’s Center Has Shifted Left.” Wall Street Journal, March 2020.
Stokes quoted in “The Oil Industry Is Quietly Winning Local Climate Fights.” The Atlantic, February 2020.
Stokes quoted in “Jeff Bezos commits $10B to climate. How should he spend it?” Utility Dive, January 2020.
Earlier
Mildenberger featured in “Solar bridges the political divide.” PV Magazine, November 2019.
Mildenberger featured in “Republicans are buying rooftop solar. Will it change their politics?.” Grist, November 2019.
Mildenberger featured in “Did the Green New Deal Win? A Look Back After 1 Year.” The Atlantic, November 2019.
Mildenberger featured in “Californians close to wildfires are more likely to vote green.” The Economist, November 2019.
Buntaine featured in “How SMS texts on corruption helped to empower Ugandan voters at the polls.” Phys.org, June 2018.