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Reversing Climate Change

Latest episodes

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6 snips
Feb 18, 2025 • 43min

336: Will Trees Play a Role in the Future of Carbon Removal?—w/ Lisett Luik, Co-Founder of Arbonics

Seemingly nothing generates hotter passions in carbon credits than forestry. Can credits count against fossil emissions? Is there enough of it to make a difference? What is the appropriate way of funding it?Today's guest is Lisett Luik, Co-Founder and COO of Arbonics, an innovative forestry company in the Baltic that straddles the line between carbon removal and other services forests can provide.We discuss if and how forestry can fit into carbon removal, help the planet avoid tipping points, and adequately motivate land managers to employ better practices.We also play a quick game of bioenergy: friend or foe!Always more to discuss on forestry, and I doubt this show will be the final word.ResourcesBecome a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate ChangeArbonics's website
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Feb 11, 2025 • 1h 23min

335: How Nori Created a Direct Air Capture + Storage Methodology: A Case Study—w/ Radhika Moolgavkar & Rick Berg, Supply at Nori

How do registries create carbon removal methodologies? Who should be involved in the process, and to what degree? How does one balance all of the competing attributes and stakeholders?Today's episode is a show in three parts:First, Nori co-founder and host ofReversing Climate Changeintroduces the context for the main segment which was recorded the better part of a year before its airing. He explores whether or not the quasi-regulatory requirement for registries not to also be marketplaces leads to proprietary methodologies.Secondly, as Nori has closed down since the recording of this episode, Ross chats with Anu Khan, the Founder and Executive Director of the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative to discuss her work of building an ark for carbon removal methodologies and how that work informs policy and the growth of carbon removal.Thirdly, is the original body of the podcast where Ross speaks with Radhika Moolgavkar, formerly the VP of Supply & Methodology at Nori, and Rick Berg, formerly Nori’s Director of Methodology, about the development of Nori’s Direct Air Capture + Storage methodology.They discuss the importance of open methodology development for transparency and trust, and ungating their work so that others can use it and adapt it under the right Creative Commons licensure.The nuts and bolts of how the expert advisory panel and public comment period work, as well as how that feedback filters back into the methodology, is explained.The podcast also covers the decision behind selecting DAC amongst all of the other CDR methodologies, the challenges in methodology harmonization across registries and geographies, and how to handle the future of methodological updates as the industry evolves and more is learned.ResourcesBecome a paid subscriber toReversing Climate ChangeRead Nori's DAC+S Methodology (coming soon!)Carbon Removal Standards InitiativeNori's Creative Commons licenseStationary bandit theory"The Constitution of No Authority" by Lysander SpoonerICROA andICVCM
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Feb 9, 2025 • 5min

How You Can Support the Reversing Climate Change Podcast

Dear listener,Thank you so much for being a fan of the show. You could be listening to anything with your one wild and precious life and I do not take that for granted. From the bottom of my heart, thank you!Now that the show is independent, I am working to make it financially viable. Can I count on you to help support Reversing Climate Change by doing any of the following?In your podcast app of choice, please give the show a full rating and/or review. The two most impactful are Apple Podcasts and Spotify, but if you use a different app that has ratings or reviews, please help me there with a great rating and/or review.Will you please become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change? For $5/month, you will get bonus content, ad-free listening, and more features as they get rolled out. This is very impactful and adds up!If you are a podcaster or aspire to become one, here are referral links for the recording platform I use called Riverside, and the editing platform I use called Descript. I can recommend both without reservation.Tell a friend about the show! If there is an episode you love, please tell someone, share it on social media, and just help me grow the show.If you have feedback of any kind that you'd like to share, please send it to carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.com.Thank you so much for helping the show. It is deeply meaningful to me.Sincerely,Ross
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Feb 4, 2025 • 1h 17min

334: Is Adopting Children a Climate Solution?—w/ Lauren Gifford, Brandon Bowersox-Johnson, & Chris Tolles

Lauren Gifford, Associate Director of the Soil Carbon Solutions Center, Brandon Bowersox-Johnson from Grassroots Carbon, and Chris Tolles, CEO of Yard Stick PBC, share their journeys as adoptive parents. They delve into the idea of adoption as a potential climate solution, discussing its ethical complexities and emotional challenges. The conversation touches on balancing parenting with climate activism, societal perceptions, and the importance of compassionate discussions surrounding adoption and family dynamics. Personal anecdotes provide insight into the joys and responsibilities of creating families through adoption.
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Jan 29, 2025 • 1h 2min

333: Coproduction & Additionality: How Do We Draw the Line for Carbon Removal?—w/ Grant Faber, Carbon-Based Consulting

Additionality is typically considered a major marker of quality in carbon removal. But what do we do when carbon removal suppliers are producing other types of products and services that make them less dependent upon voluntary carbon market revenue? Perhaps even more importantly, how do we have a productive disagreement on this topic? Bringing up some concerns can open one to criticism. But we also depend upon people thinking differently in order to advance our understanding of the world and the types of value we create. How do we make sure we aren't encouraging crackpot analysis while also not hewing so closely to orthodoxy that we might be missing important insights? How can we set the stage to understand the true landscape of disagreement so that we can come to better decisions and not be driven by ideology in improper ways? Today's podcast features Reversing Climate Change alumnus, Grant Faber, returning to the show. Grant is sui generis in our sector for his deep involvement in life-cycle and techno-economic assessment. He is the Direct Air Capture Hubs Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to DOE, he ran a consultancy focused on life cycle and techno-economic assessment where he worked with many different startups, accelerators, and investors working on carbon removal and carbon conversion. Before that, he worked with Twelve, Heirloom, and the Global CO2 Initiative. Importantly, we invite you to engage with this material and come to your own conclusions. Part of what makes carbon removal such an intellectual adventure is just how much room there is for creativity and deep thought! Resources Grant's website Grant's previous RCC appearance Grant's article, "Carbon removal, co-products, and system boundaries" Eric Matzner from Metalplant's RCC appearance "Crediting challenges when carbon removal comes with avoided emissions" by CarbonPlan The trope of the monkey paw A few Robert Höglund pieces on temporary carbon removal: #1, #2, and #3 Here's the quote from Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King: "It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."
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Jan 26, 2025 • 7min

Why You Should Listen to the Reversing Climate Change Podcast: A Reintroduction!

Of all of the world's climate podcasts, here is why you should, with your one wild and precious life, listen to Reversing Climate Change.The tl;dr is I am a long-time carbon removal and climate tech entrepreneur who comes from the humanities (rather than science) and I am programming shows on climate unlike what you're likely to hear elsewhere. Shows with legendary travel writers to worlds that are disappearing? A Vietnam veteran discussing what Jungian archetypes can teach those thinking of their climate activism as a type of warfare? Survivalism in the age of climate change? What might Dante make of our current predicament?! This show's got it!If you like the show, would you please become a subscriber here? It makes a huge difference to the show's sustainability. And if you aren't able to do that, would you please give the show a great rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whichever podcast app you use that has that ability?Thank you so much for listening! Please let me know in the comments if you would like anything in particular.
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Jan 22, 2025 • 49min

332: If Climate Change Can Impact Behavior, How Much Agency Do We Actually Have?—w/ Clayton Aldern, author of The Weight of Nature

When we think of climate change, we might think of droughts, floods, wildfires, emigration and climate refugees: but what if the call is coming from inside the house? What if it impacts the way we think and act? Today's show is with Clayton Aldern, Senior Data Reporter at Grist and author of The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains. Clayton explains where additional climate risks will be coming from, and much of it is how much even small changes in heat can increase impulsivity and crime, decrease test scores, and generally make things more difficult. If human bodies are so susceptible to environmental conditions, what does that say for justice? How are we meant to understand agency and determinism? How do we hold one another accountable while also practicing forgiveness for human frailty? There are no shortage of big questions today! Enjoy. Resources Clayton's writing on Grist Clayton's website The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains
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Jan 22, 2025 • 11min

When Heat Makes Us Angry: Free Will, Determinism, and Compatibilism Under Conditions of Stress

This is a (Spotify) video excerpt from episode 332 with Clayton Aldern, Senior Data Reporter at Grist and author of The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains. In this video clip, we discuss how we hold people accountable when the heat has a statistically relevant negative impact on decision-making, impulsivity, etc. If we are so embodied as to predictably make worse conditions under stress, what does that mean for a world that will likely encounter more stress as a result of climate change? At what point should we focus less on responsibility, blame, and agency and begin to focus more on background conditions and our physical natures? Or is this even the right question? Tune in now to learn more, and listen to the rest of the show on audio wherever you listen to podcasts.
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Jan 14, 2025 • 46min

331: The Future of Wildfire Prevention: Data, Insurance, & The Los Angeles Disaster—w/ Allison Wolff, CEO of Vibrant Planet

The wildfires in Los Angeles have gripped the country this past week. How could so much valuable real estate in prestigious zip codes populated at least in part by the rich and famous burn without recourse? Today's Reversing Climate Change podcast sees alumna of the show, Allison Wolff, return to discuss Vibrant Planet and the LA wildfires. We were originally scheduled just to catch up because it had been too long, but it turned out to be a serendipitous podcast. Allison has been working on understanding and managing fire risk for years and has built a data platform at Vibrant Planet that helps various entities like state agencies, utilities, and insurers understand and mitigate fire risk in areas under their responsibility.
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Nov 12, 2024 • 47min

330: Frostpunk 2: Climate Video Games and Humane Storytelling at 11 bit studios—w/ Maciej Sułecki of This War of Mine, Frostpunk 1 & 2

Content warning: This episode discusses a scene in a video game that involves sexual assault during war. If you'd like to skip that section, it is from 7:57-8:35. There is a response that discusses the ethical choices in the game beyond that point, but it is more abstract and general about choices. Video games have not historically been amazing at storytelling. Games prioritize mechanics and gameplay while story takes a backseat. But that isn’t the case at 11 bit studios, which have produced some of the finest video games in recent years, including a series that takes place within a climate-changed world. Today’s Reversing Climate Change guest is Maciej Sułecki. Maciej worked on three games that RCC host Ross Kenyon is a huge fan of: This War of Mine, and Frostpunk 1 & 2. The conversation starts with The War of Mine, in which the player plays as a group of civilians trying to survive a fictionalized Siego of Sarajevo. Unlike most war games, the objective is not to win a battle (most characters are ill-suited to fighting) but merely to stay alive and not lose your soul in the process by engaging in unethical or traumatic behavior. The Frostpunk games each deal with a world that has iced over, and humanity is barely hanging on. Due to the extreme circumstances of survival, the decisions are hard and the political choices tend toward the extreme. It puts players in the role of deciding how to rank liberal values that we take for granted about the consent of the governed and the political process against survival. What’s more: it doesn’t do this in a straightforward way meant to teach you a lesson—a very unusual quality in any media, let alone a video game! Ross and Maciej discuss other games and series that have prioritized story to varying degrees such as Fallout, The Elder Scrolls, Papers, Please, and Disco Elysium, and also end up discussing the degree to which Polish history influenced what are otherwise games meant to be universal. In the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the democratic body of the Sejm had a principle called the Liberum Veto, by which any member of the body could veto a policy. While this was a beautiful idea, it made it easy for members to be bribed by outsiders to block policy changes and cease the development of the state. By some accounts, it led to the weakening of the Polish state and therefore its ultimate susceptibility to the Polish Partitions. Did that influence the gamemakers thoughts on democracy? Is there such a thing as a universal game, or does all art spring from our experience, cultural or otherwise?

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