In September 2017, a still-unknown Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez watched as Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico. Electricity went down for months. Like thousands of Puerto Ricans, her grandfather died in the storm's aftermath. She could see how climate change was hitting her community harder than others.
Serendipitously, the day after Ocasio-Cortez left the protest, a progressive organization reached out to ask her to run for Congress. Moved by the activists at Standing Rock, she said yes. In 2018, she ran a long-shot primary campaign in a Bronx district occupied by a ten-term congressman in House leadership. Her platform included an idea that some had bandied about before, but no one had developed in earnest: a Green New Deal. As she told journalists that summer, "The Green New Deal we are proposing will be similar in scale to the mobilization efforts seen in World War II or the Marshall Plan. We must again invest in the development, manufacturing, deployment, and distribution of energy, but this time green energy." In June, she won the primary. Her election signaled the beginning of a broader shift: climate change was back on the political agenda.
In the November 2018 midterm elections, two years into the first Trump administration, Democrats won big, paving the way for Nancy Pelosi to return as Speaker of the House after eight years as the minority leader. Days later, a group of young activists from the Sunrise Movement staged a sit-in at her office. Their bright yellow and black signs read "We have 12 years. What’s your plan?" referencing that scientific report.
Protestors from the Sunrise Movement in the office of former U.S. Representative Nancy Pelosi supporting the Green New Deal. (Image credit: SOPA Images/Getty Images)I watched these developments unfold in DC from my office by the Pacific Ocean and wanted to be a part of it. I wouldn't have to wait long. The Green New Deal held a force like gravity, pulling people into its orbit. By chance, I met some of the people tied to Ocasio-Cortez at a conference and was invited to an early gathering to develop the idea into more detailed policy. By then, she'd released a framework for the plan with Senator Ed Markey of Massachusetts.
Varshini Prakash speaking during a Climate Strike rally in New York Citiy in 2019. (Image credit: Pacific Press via Getty Images)Exclusive to Live Science Pro
Arctic warming fuels 2 distinct climate regimes in Siberia that could wake up a methane 'sleeping giant'The pace of climate change matters more than overall heat in the race to save key Atlantic currents, study finds'The apple you eat isn't the apple your granddaughter will eat': What's on the menu in a warming world?
The fact was, Varshini had already changed history. She'd given me, and millions of others, a sense of hope and possibility. It was her actions, alongside all the other organizers in the Sunrise Movement, that brought us together in that first DC convening, and in countless other meetings to come. She inspired me to believe that I could do something bigger if I tried.
Excerpted from The Carbon Wave: A Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet by Leah C. Stokes. Reprinted with permission from The MIT Press. Copyright 2026.
MIT Press The Carbon Wave: a Story of Democracy, Parenthood, and the Race to Protect Our Planet
Interlacing personal narratives with stories from Congress, the White House, and outside activists, Stokes shows how dogged perseverance and collective action can still bend the course of history. The book concludes with an update from the second Trump administration, explaining the parts of the bill that were—and were not—rolled back, and why we should remain hopeful that progress is still being made.
Hence then, the article about drops in the ocean can make waves how the grassroots climate movement took off in the us was published today ( ) and is available on Live Science ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
Read More Details
Finally We wish PressBee provided you with enough information of ( 'Drops in the ocean can make waves': How the grassroots climate movement took off in the US )
Also on site :
- Jon Stewart Uses Nathan Fielder’s ‘You Can See Everything’ Trailer to Troll Donald Trump and His ‘Human Printer’ Aide
- Starbucks’ New High-Protein Snack Pack Is Made for the Midday Slump
- Die Universität von Bengasi wird nach elf Jahren wiedereröffnet - ein historischer Meilenstein, bei dem drei Guinness-Weltrekorde gebrochen wurden