Reversing Climate Change

Can you advocate for climate solutions and dramatic population growth at the same time? Or are the two ideas mutually exclusive? Matthew Yglesias argues that while electoral politics is a zero-sum game, policy is not. And any two priorities can be reconciled to craft a win-win, provided both sides accept the premise that we need to take action on climate change. Matthew Yglesias is the cofounder of Vox, host of The Weeds Podcast, journalist and author of the national bestseller, One Billion Americans: The Case for Thinking Bigger. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Matt joins Ross and Paul to discuss the premise of his book, explaining why it’s crucial for the US to grow its population and commit to keeping our #1 status in the world. He shares his liberal approach to this conservative idea, describing how immigration makes us stronger and what we can do to support families with children. Matthew goes on to offer insight on the dysfunction of American federalism, discussing how a shared goal would c

In the past, conferences addressing market solutions to the climate crisis were attended by professionals with ‘sustainability’ in their titles. But we’ve begun to realize that sustainability is everyone’s responsibility, and the audience has expanded. In fact, this year’s VERGE 20 (register at this link with Nori's 15% off discount code) is more accessible than ever, welcoming anyone who’s interested to learn more about sustainable food systems and carbon removal. Jim Giles is the Conference Chair of VERGE Food and VERGE Carbon at GreenBiz. On this bonus episode of the podcast, Jim joins Ross to discuss the upcoming GreenBiz conference, VERGE 20, sharing some of the notable sessions and speakers on topics like purchasing carbon offsets and scaling regenerative agriculture. Jim explains how VERGE will look different this year, describing how his team has pivoted to a virtual format, and what they are doing to recreate 1:1 connections among the 10K projected attendees! Listen in for insight around the growing

Sailors rely on wind patterns and currents to make decisions about the expeditions they take, tracking weather patterns along the way and adjusting their route as necessary. But climate change has made winds less consistent and weather patterns less predictable. How does that impact sailing? John Kretschmer is the President of John Kretschmer Sailing and the author of several books about his voyages at sea, including his latest release, Sailing to the Edge of Time: The Promise, the Challenges and the Freedom of Ocean Voyaging. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, John joins Ross to explain how he came to love boats and books, describing how sailing facilitates deep and powerful intellectual discussion. John weighs in on how climate change has impacted the way he plans and conducts passages, offering insight on how the trade winds and the Gulf Stream have changed in the last 30 years. Listen in to understand how sailors cope with volatile weather and find out how climate change has influenced the exped

How are you spending your time? Is it aligned with what you genuinely care about? In 2018, Heidi Lim quit her role in enterprise software to solve climate change full-time. What steps did she take to identify a new, purpose-driven path and then land a role in carbon removal? Heidi is the Chief of Staff at Opus 12, a company working to recycle CO2 into cost-competitive chemicals and fuels, and the author of two popular Medium articles, ‘We Need to Talk About Carbon Removal’ and ‘Chasing a Job with Purpose’. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Heidi joins Ross to walk us through her process for finding meaningful work, explaining what inspired her to pursue a role in the carbon removal space. Heidi shares her strategies for figuring out what kind of purposeful work you want to pursue, challenging us to reach out to people on paths we’re interested in and embed ourselves in communities with likeminded individuals. Listen in for Heidi’s insight on turning content creation into career opportunities and le

Nature is self-organizing, self-regulating, and self-healing. And if we follow her patterns, we can heal our ecosystem, produce better quality food, and more profitable farms and ranches. So, what does it look like when we adopt regenerative agricultural practices that work with nature’s principles? And what can we do to support the farmers and ranchers who understand the relationship between carbon and soil health? Farmer, rancher and soil health pioneer Gabe Brown is the bestselling author of Dirt to Soil: One Family’s Journey into Regenerative Agriculture, and his work is featured in the new Netflix documentary, Kiss the Ground. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Gabe joins Ross and Christophe to explain what inspired his own transition to regenerative agricultural practices and how he works with farmers and ranchers, using the context and tools available to move them down a regenerative path. Gabe walks us through the six principles of how nature functions, describing how we can work with nature

Reversing Climate Change alumnus and founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition, Benji Backer, returns to the show to tell us about The Conservation Coalition's new multimedia project, The Electric Election Roadtrip 2020. Benji and his team are traveling the country in a Tesla X to investigate the multiple overlapping climate solutions being developed. You can follow the show and its video on Facebook, TCC's website, or the podcast via audio in your podcast app of choice. Resources: The Electric Election 2020 Roadtrip website American Conservation Coalition's Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, website The Conservation Coalition website, and Twitter Benji Backer's Twitter The Trump panel with scientists referenced in this episode --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/reversingclimatechange/support

“We have not settled America. We have colonized America. Now, we’ve got to figure out … how to actually live here. How are we going to move forward? Everybody needs to be an agrarian now.” — Mary Berry We live in a culture that pushes us to keep moving. Obsessed with upward mobility, we keep searching for something more. But this ‘problem of mobility’ robs us of the opportunity to belong to a place. To develop deep cultural ties with the land and each other. And Mary Berry contends that this disconnection and lack of community is the source of many of our problems here in the US. Mary Berry is the Executive Director of The Berry Center, a nonprofit that advocates for farmers, land-conserving communities, and healthy regional economies. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Mary joins Ross to explain how her family’s history as part of the Burley Tobacco Growers Cooperative inspired her to build The Berry Center and describe how the Burley Tobacco program’s principles are at work in her team’s Our Home

Regardless of where you stand on the ethics of eating meat, the fact is, it’s a big part of the climate math. It provokes strong feelings all around, some of which may be contradictory within one’s self. And so much of the climate analysis is dependent upon how the animals were raised, marketed, and so on. It’s hard to speak (at least for some) with crisp lines. In this episode we wade into these details. Jonathan Safran Foer is the bestselling author of Eating Animals, Everything Is Illuminated, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close, and We Are the Weather: Saving the Planet Begins at Breakfast. Today, Jonathan joins Ross to describe his relationship with meat, explaining what inspired him to become a vegetarian at the age of nine and why he is willing to admit to moral failure when he grabs a burger at the airport. Jonathan shares his proposal for reducing our meat consumption as posited in We Are the Weather, weighing in on why it’s dangerous to make our food choices such a big part of our identity. Listen i

Direct air capture or DAC is one of the many strategies we need to employ to achieve the goal of net-zero carbon emissions by 2050. So, how do we scale up the DAC industry to capture the hundreds of millions of tons of CO2 we need to remove from the atmosphere? And what would that kind of growth mean in terms of business opportunities and job creation? John Larsen is a Director at Rhodium Group, an independent research firm that analyzes global disruptive trends. He leads the firm’s US power sector and energy systems research, specializing in the analysis of clean energy policy and market trends. Today, John joins Ross, Christophe, and Aldyen to discuss his team’s most recent report and associated webinar, Capturing New Jobs and New Business: Growth Opportunities from Direct Air Capture Scale-Up. John outlines the policy recommendations he suggests to ramp up the construction of DAC plants, offering insight around potential government subsidies for decarbonization and sharing what policy solutions work (and w

Ranching has been vilified as a major contributor to climate change. But what if it’s not the cow but the HOW? The fact is, animals have always lived and grazed on grasslands, and when we leverage regenerative grazing to raise livestock, we can rebuild the soil and sequester carbon in the grass and soil, sourcing materials like leather, fiber, and meat in a more responsible way.  Chris Kerston is the Chief Commercial Officer of the Land to Market Program at the Savory Institute, a nonprofit working to regenerate the world’s grasslands through Holistic Management. Today, Chris joins Ross to explain how the Savory Institute promotes regenerative grazing and share their vision of a future where farmers and ranchers work together. Chris walks us through the Land to Market program’s Ecological Outcome Verification (EOV) protocol, describing why they measure a breadth of ecosystem services versus sequestered carbon alone. Listen in to understand how Savory is supporting brands like Timberland and learn how the

We live in a point-and-click society where labor is seen as something to overcome. But what if we’ve got it wrong? Philosopher turned farmer Dr. Scott H. Moore contends that entertainment doesn’t have to be passive. In fact, activities like reading Dante, growing tomatoes or fixing our own plumbing can bring us a lot of joy and satisfaction—and maybe even transform the way we see the world. Dr. Moore is an Associate Professor of Philosophy and Great Texts at Baylor University and the author of How to Burn a Goat: Farming with the Philosophers. Today, Dr. Moore joins Ross to discuss the connections among philosophy, the Classics, theology and farming, explaining how Wendell Berry inspired his decision to become a farmer, and exploring how great works like Dante’s Divine Comedy remain relevant in modern life. Dr. Moore challenges us to rethink our notion of labor, describing the rewards of problem-solving with our hands and engaging in activities like gardening or woodworking—as opposed to just buying the thing

There is a temptation to believe that science and technology will save us from climate change, while we continue business as usual. But we have already emitted huge levels of CO2 into the atmosphere, and it’s going to take both carbon capture at the source and direct air capture (DAC) from ambient air to make a dent in the record atmospheric concentration of 415ppm we hit in 2019. Dr. Jennifer Wilcox is the James H. Manning Chaired Professor of Chemical Engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and the author of the first textbook on carbon capture. Today, Dr. Wilcox joins Ross and Christophe to discuss the distinction between carbon capture in general and direct air capture specifically and explain why we need both strategies to succeed in reversing climate change. Dr. Wilcox goes on to describe the two leading DAC technologies, solvents and solid sorbents, sharing how we might decide where to build plants and what tech to use in a given situation. Listen in for Dr. Wilcox’s insight on conducting a tech

We know that minority populations bear an unequal burden when it comes to climate change. And yes, Black Americans are concerned about the climate crisis, but they don’t see the environment as a top-tier issue. So, what can advocates and policymakers do to make climate change more relevant to Black communities and ensure their inclusion in a clean energy transition? Jared DeWese is Senior Communications Advisor for the Climate & Energy Program at Third Way, a center-left federal policy think tank based in Washington, D.C. Jared joins Ross to discuss the organization’s recent report, ‘Black Americans Care About Climate Change (But It’s Complicated),’ sharing the top takeaways from their qualitative research and explaining how advocates can mobilize communities of color around climate change by connecting the issue with their daily lives. Jared weighs in on how Black Americans are impacted by climate change, introducing us to the idea of environmental racism and exploring what we can do to confront and tran

Many indigenous communities see the climate crisis as another form of colonialism. First World countries have colonized the atmosphere with their greenhouse gas emissions. And there is a risk that carbon removal infrastructure reinforces business-as-usual. So, what is the best approach to decolonizing the atmosphere? How can we tackle climate change in a way that fits with broader progressive goals around equity and social justice? Dr. Holly Jean Buck is a postdoctoral fellow at UCLA’s Institute on the Environment and Sustainability and the author of After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration. Dr. Buck joins Ross to discuss her recent article in Progressive International, ‘How to Decolonize the Atmosphere.’ She describes how the ideas in The Red Deal: Indigenous Action to Save Our Earth informed her thinking and introduces us to the concept of settler colonialism as it relates to climate change. Dr. Buck walks us through her three progressive goals for carbon removal: 1) link carbon with t

Carbon dioxide levels are double what they were prior the Industrial Revolution. And we know that reducing emissions is simply not going to be enough to avoid widespread ecological collapse. We need strategies for removing CO2 from the atmosphere at scale. So, what if green sand beaches could provide a promising solution to climate change that is nature-based, affordable, and can be deployed around the globe? Kelly Erhart and Tom Green are the Cofounder and Executive Director, respectively, of Project Vesta, an organization dedicated to capturing a trillion tonnes of excess CO2 in rock through coastal enhanced weathering. Kelly and Tom join Ross to explain how they are creating green sand beaches with olivine to remove CO2 from the atmosphere faster and store it in limestone on the sea floor. They discuss the benefits and potential risks of enhanced weathering in an aquatic environment as well as the permanence of Project Vesta’s sequestration process. Kelly and Tom share the news of how Stripe came to be the

Have you ever wondered what happens to your clothes after you drop them off at Goodwill? Or where your electronics go once you’ve left them at the recycling center? Yes, some of our excess is exported to emerging markets around the world and either resold or harvested for parts. Is that cool? And what can we do to shop in a way that reduces our environmental impact? Adam Minter is a columnist at Bloomberg Opinion and the author of Junkyard Planet: Travels in the Billion-Dollar Trash Trade and Secondhand: Travels in the New Global Garage Sale. Today, Adam joins Ross to explain how being born into a family of junk dealers informed his career as a journalist. He introduces us to what happens when we donate clothing to Goodwill, describing how items are sorted and resold or exported to other markets around the world. Adam weighs in on why it’s not unethical to send our e-waste to West Africa or resell used car seats in Mexico, challenging us to worry more about the quality of the products we buy and less about wh

The American Constitution provides the ‘nuts and bolts of liberty,’ putting constraints on the government and promising equality before the law. But the challenge is that it relies on state officials to enforce the law impartially. What if the blockchain could help us avoid these human-level implementation problems and effectively automate some features of our bureaucracy? Dr. Nick Cowen is a lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lincoln and the author of the paper, ‘Markets for Rules: The Promise and Peril of Blockchain Distributed Governance.’ Today, Nick is back to discuss the potential benefits of blockchain governance structures, including the ability to apply law impartially and reduce censorship. He explores the idea of consent as it applies to the blockchain and explains how the technology prevents the off-diagonals that manifest out of subsidiarity. Nick weighs in on whether the blockchain will become a competition to be the best or the most permissive and descr

What's the future got in store for architecture? A return to tried and true organic construction methods like adobe or rammed earth? Buildings that are as alive as human bodies? Something in between? How do we create more beautiful and livable spaces while also making the built environment carbon-negative? This week's guest is Dr. Wil Srubar, Assistant Professor of Architectural Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, Technical Director of Materials R&D at Katerra, and Cochair of the Carbon Leadership Forum Network and serves as its global hub director. We talk about trends in architecture and materials science and try to ferret out what might be coming down the pike, particularly in light of the article Wil wrote in The Conversation, "Buildings grown by bacteria—new research is finding ways to turn cells into mini-factories for materials". A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture by V

The tragedy of the commons suggests that, left to our own devices, we will overuse and overconsume our shared resources in the name of self-interest. And that either privatization or state control is required to keep us in check. But Elinor Ostrom advanced a third option, a polycentric governance approach in which the people involved solve the problem on their own through a commons solution. Dr. Nick Cowen is a lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lincoln and the author of the paper, ‘Cost and Choice in the Commons: Ostrom and the Case of British Flood Management’. Today, Nick joins Ross to discuss the differences among state, market, and commons solutions to the environmental problems we face. He explains how Ostrom’s work changed the way we think about the tragedy of the commons and walks us through several examples of communal solutions that preserve shared resources. Nick goes on to introduce the concepts of residual-claimancy and the transitional gains trap, descri

We tend to think of climate change as a problem in and of itself. But what if the climate crisis is a symptom of a bigger issue? What if we can’t solve climate change without social justice? Meteorologist Eric Holthaus is the climate correspondent for The Correspondent and author of The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Warming. Today, Eric joins Ross to explain how climate change is a symptom of broader societal inequalities and discuss the role ownership has played in causing the climate crisis. He shares his vision for a cooperative political and economic system based on distributed production that supports the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all. Eric goes on to explore the complexity of our connections with the each other and advocate for a system of ethics that promotes care work and prevents overconsumption by a privileged few. Listen in for Eric’s insight around what the pandemic has taught us about the potential for a radically different life an