Reversing Climate Change

Carbon removal isn't that old. So for someone who's been involved in it for almost fifteen years... that's an elder. And today he's bringing the wisdom he earned the hard way.Dave Addison is formerly the Virgin Earth Challenge Manager, an effort he began working on in 2010. That's about six years before I had even heard of CDR, so a long time indeed!Last year, Dave started Planetary Practitioners, a consultancy founded on a long-run vision of helping much more of humankind access decent work in net-positive industries. You can read his writing and keep up with his work here.One pattern you might notice in shows is that many of the lessons aren't merely about commercial strategy or TRL or unit economics. Much of the best advice is how to walk upon the Earth in a way that shows you belong here. So today, it's more emotional than average. For those of you who want or need such an experience, it is here for you, and I hope you enjoy this conversation with my good friend, Dave.This Episode's Sponsors⁠⁠ClimeFi⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.com⁠⁠⁠Use this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing service⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use this affiliate link to use Riverside to record your podcasts⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral codeResources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠"Keep Going", from Dave's Substack for Planetary PractitionersVirgin Earth ChallengeLongitude rewards systemCarl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal VoyageDavid Grinspoon's Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's FutureThe Telepathy TapesCharles C. Mann's The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World"It's Just a Ride" by Bill Hicks"The Darmine Doggy Door" from I Think You Should LeaveCharlie Chaplin's speech from The Great DictatorNathan Fielder'sThe Rehearsal N.B. The meme thumbnail is not original content and is intended for thematic discussion in this episode and its accompanying bonus episode, and is just a common theme whenever Dave and I chat.

Robert Höglund, Head of carbon dioxide removal at Milky Wire and co-founder of CDR.FYI, dives deep into the intricacies of carbon accounting. He questions whether every dollar in carbon removal should be maximally catalytic or if getting a good deal is also acceptable. The conversation highlights the complexities of carbon credit legitimacy and the challenges of temporary versus long-term solutions. Höglund advocates for a cultural shift in corporate responsibility for effective climate action, stressing the importance of strategic funding in addressing carbon removal needs.

Everyone's focused on carbon credit offtakes and Voluntary Carbon Market purchases, but the compliance markets represent the vast majority of carbon assets in circulation. How do these markets work, and how might carbon removal interact with them in the future?Mike Azlen is the CEO and CIO of Carbon Cap Management LLP, a firm which trades within various compliance markets.We discuss why private traders like his company can help price discovery in compliance markets, and address some common criticisms of market-based approaches to climate change (both VCM and compliance markets.)Carbon removal is going to figure into various compliance markets in the future, but how exactly will that work? Might that be the demand boost that carbon removal needs to scale?There is also bonus content from this episode about some of Mike's observations about VCM failures. It will be released on Saturday, May 24th. Become a paid subscriber to access it when it is published!This Episode's SponsorClimeFi⁠⁠⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.com⁠Use this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing service⁠⁠Use this affiliate link to use Riverside to record your podcasts⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠Carbon Cap Management LLPCarbon Cap's Resource Library

Seemingly everyone in carbon removal says they want more data transparency and the sharing of scientific results. Why isn't open science more present, and how can we get more of it? Could a pre-print server for CDR be part of the solution?Today is the official launch of CDRXIV ("cee-dee-archive"), a new initiative from CarbonPlan that aims to spur scientific conversations within the carbon removal community.On this episode, Freya Chay (the CDR Program Lead at CarbonPlan and a Member of the Advisory Board to CDRXIV) and Tyler Kukla (a CDR Research Scientist at CarbonPlan and the Content Manager for CDRXIV) are on the show to explain how pre-print servers drive progress in other scientific fields, why CDR needs one, and how it may change our industry.If you'd like to submit data and/or a paper for publication to CDRXIV, please email hello@cdrxiv.org, or visit their submission portal here.This Episode's Sponsor⁠⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠⁠⁠Become a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.comUse this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing serviceUse this affiliate link to use Riverside to record your podcastsResources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠CarbonPlanCDRXIVSubmit research to CDRXIV335: How Nori Created a Direct Air Capture+Storage Methodology: A Case Study—w/ Radhika Moolgavkar & Rick Berg

Carbon removal only has a few exits. Today’s guest was involved in two of them, and he’s bringing his lessons.Jim McDermott is the founder and CEO of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC, an investment firm that makes a few early-stage bets and works with companies much more closely than most investors do. He's had a long and storied career in energy and as the founder and CEO of Stamps.com.Jim shares his lessons from exiting 1PointFive and Carbon Engineering to Occidental Petroleum (who also just bought Holocene, another direct air capture company). He lays out his case for alternatives to the classical venture approach, and proposes a new philanthropic model he believes has a chance of filling in carbon removal’s (in)famous demand gap.Listen in to lessons for entrepreneurs during tough times and Jim's predictions for direct air capture and the carbon removal sector as a whole.This Episode's Sponsor⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠Rusheen Capital Management, LLC1PointFiveCarbon EngineeringOccidental PetroleumHolocene"Why Oxy’s Acquisition Of Holocene Signals A Maturing Carbon Removal Industry" at Forbes, by Phil de Luna

Matt Schmitt, Founder and CEO of Structure Climate, and Andrew Jones, Co-founder and CEO of Carba, discuss a game-changing partnership where Microsoft committed to purchasing carbon credits from Carba. They dive into the intricacies of financing carbon removal projects, highlighting the critical role of debt in bridging the gap from agreement to scale. The conversation also sheds light on how innovative financial structures can unlock the potential of climate tech companies while addressing the challenges of securing funding for transformative environmental solutions.

Fair warning: this episode spoils a lot of (older) media.Antiheroes make for great television. But why are we obsessed with them? Why are they in nearly all prestige dramas? Is this a result of our cultural beliefs, or is it (re)producing a culture of cynical realism? What impacts might it have for politics and climate change?This ascendancy of the antihero is a trend I've been watching (and often enjoying) since my teen years. Shows like The Sopranos helped bring television to its lofty artistic status, but it did so by confusing the natural empathy that good storytelling generates. The longer one watches shows like The Sopranos, the more one ends up rooting for bad guys to be successful. In a world that is ever more mediated by media, could a similar trend be happening in politics?Today's show is an attempt to make sense of the antihero through a number of prestige dramas, and look for some ways of telling stories that don't lead us into the abyss of constant moral ambiguity.Today we're going to talk about hope, reclaiming moral authority, and why it's cool to believe in things. I hope you'll join me in that ambition.This Episode's Sponsors⁠⁠Offstream⁠⁠⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠⁠Email me to sponsor at carbon.removal.strategies [at] gmail.com.Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠"The judge speaks in the name of justice; the priest speaks in the name of pity, which is nothing but a more lofty justice."- Victor Hugo, Les Misérables"Then came Peter to him, and said, Lord, how oft shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? till seven times? Jesus saith unto him, I say not unto thee, Until seven times: but, Until seventy times seven."- Matthew 18:21-22, KJV'Breaking Bad's Vince Gilligan Says We Need More Good Guys on Screen as Bad Guys Have “Taken Over the World” article on MSNThe Sopranos (here's a clip where Anthony Jr. steals sacramental wine from the church and the shot lingers for a few extra seconds on St. Jude, the patron saint of lost causes—perfection)Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on Wikipedia"Antihero" article on TVTropes (my favorite repository of writings on archetypes and common storytelling devices)Littlefinger Tells Varys That Chaos Is A Ladder | Game of Thrones | HBOBreaking BadTed LassoThe Last of UsThe scene between Michael and Kay in The Godfather"Default to Good" article on TVTropes (the unnamed archetype of "the redeemed rogue." I'm glad it already had a name! It deserved one!)The Act of KillingThe All We Can Save ProjectWhat If We Get It Right?  by Dr. Ayana Johnson

It's a jarring phrase. There's an even more jarring version of it in this episode. You've been warned.Economists are well-known for gnomic sentences that can sound cruel. For some, that's one of the job's many perks. But that doesn't mean that there isn't some truth in representing decisions as trade-offs.Today is a bonus monologue episode where I am going to unpack this phrase (and its nastier cousin) and explain what it has to teach the carbon removal industry as it grapples with the tension between scale and quality.This Episode's Sponsors⁠Offstream⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠"There ain't no such thing as a free lunch" Wikipedia page⁠Follow the Reversing Climate Change podcast on LinkedIn

You should know about my friend Heidi Lim. She's a leading voice of carbon removal on TikTok.She's been making short-form content for ages but today's show is her first foray into long-form. I have the honor of being her first guest and co-releasing the episode.It is my sincere honor to help Heidi launch her new content on YouTube!We get real in this show, talking about the difficult and sometimes unsung work of climate communications, why our world feels so screwed up, and the black hole of tech jobs that suck so much talent into its brain drain.Best wishes, Heidi! So glad you're now doing this. Count me as a big fan!This Episode's Sponsors⁠Offstream⁠⁠Arbonics⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Lisett Luik from Arbonics⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠Heidi's TikTokThe full video on Heidi's YouTube channel329: The "Faustian Bargain" in Climate Rhetoric: Goethe's Faust and Modern Occultism—w/ Daniel Backer, author326: Confronting Our Shadow: Jung, The Vietnam War, & Climate Change—w/ Karl Marlantes, authorFollow the Reversing Climate Change podcast on LinkedInFollow Carbon Removal Memes on LinkedIn"And if thy right hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell."- Matthew 5:30, KJV

If only there were a podcast that broke down all of the ways climate professionals broke into their industry...Michael Gold is a communications expert and consultant at Word Clouds Consulting and the host of the new podcast, Climate Swings. This show traces guests' stories and explains how they landed a job working on one of humanity's most significant problem sets.Check out the episode of Climate Swings I did with Michael retelling my odyssey into climate work here! Be sure to subscribe to his show, give it a great rating and review, and send it to a friend trying to come join us.Also, a special thank you to 9Zero for serendipitously facilitating our connection and to Terra.do for helping Michael do what he does!Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠"From PhD Dropout to Carbon Removal Comedian", the episode of Climate Swings I did with Michael⁠⁠⁠Follow the Reversing Climate Change podcast on LinkedIn⁠