Reversing Climate Change 371: Can Carbon Removal Grow with Sports? Why Athletic Media Goes Up and to the Right—w/ Aidan Preston of Milkywire
Much of legacy media is dying. You know what isn't? Live sports. Where the outcome is uncertain, people want to watch.
That means bringing together large numbers of fans and athletes. And what does that all add up to? Emissions. And emissions that could potentially be detached from profitability, leading to budgets large enough to support meaningful carbon removal.
But will sports leagues move in this direction? Or is it better that it stay at the level of individual teams jockeying for brand value from climate action?
Today's guest is Dr. Aidan Preston, Senior Impact Manager of Milkywire and former Advisor to the United States Department of Energy.
Aidan is a sports fanatic and the author of Milkywire's latest report, "The Climate Cost of Growth in Sport: An Opportunity for Sports to Win on Climate".
We discuss the evolving media landscape around sports, the creation and surprising rise of new sports, the omnipresence of sports betting, and how all of this might play out for carbon removal and climate action.
This Episode's Sponsors
Absolute Climate: the only standard that’s developed independent of registries
Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers
Listen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute Climate
Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP
Become a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.com
Sign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral code
Resources
Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack
350: Robert Höglund Presents: The Many Perils of Being Catalytic in a Carbon Accounting World
"Mohammad Ali — Amazing Speed"; watch this video for the out-of-this-world dodges alone
America's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; you can see the F1 and golf series on Netflix too
Aidan recommended this Michael Lewis podcast on sports betting
Aidan sent me the link to this study on how talking to strangers brings satisfaction
Acquired episode about Indian Premier League Cricket
https://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-everything-became-television
CUR8
Taylor Swift and the Chiefs/NFL
Jason Isbell on being the subject of the documentary, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed: "Yet Isbell admits there were times during the filming process when he needed a moment to himself.
“I would leave the room, or unplug my microphone and get away from the camera. Sometimes it was too much,” he says. “But once the footage was all there and edited together, I didn’t use any sort of veto power or take anything out.”"
The Gulf of Aden (sorry, Aidan; I couldn't help it...)