Reversing Climate Change

We have explored, at length, the basket of biophysical stressors climate change could produce. And we’ve looked at how floods, droughts, tropical cyclones, ocean acidification, coral degradation (and the list goes on and on) might impact our food security and lead to the displacement of a lot of people. But what does the climate crisis mean for national security? How does the intelligence community think about climate change? Dr. Rod Schoonover is a member of The Center for Climate & Security Advisory Board. He is also the Founder and CEO of the Ecological Futures Group, and an Adjunct Professor in the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He served in the US Intelligence Community for ten years as the Director of Environment and Natural Resources at the National Intelligence Council and Senior Analyst in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research at the US Department of State. On this episode, Dr. Schoonover joins Ross to discuss the foreign policy goals of the US and share his concerns around the current administration’s failure to call out anti-democratic values. He explains how the suppression of his written testimony for the House Intelligence Committee regarding the national security implications of climate change led to his resignation from the State Department. Listen in for Dr. Schoonover’s insight on what the US government should do to address the climate crisis and learn what could happen (from a security perspective) if we don’t take action on climate change. Connect with Nori: Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori on Patreon Resources: Climate & Security Podcast The National Intelligence Council’s 2016 Report: Implications for US National Security of Anticipated Climate Change Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research Dr. Schoonover’s June 2019 Testimony for the House Intelligence Committee ‘White House Tried to Stop Climate Science Testimony, Documents Show’ in The New York Times Dr. Schoonover’s June 2019 Statement for the Record on the National Security Implications of Climate Change Dr. Schoonover’s Op-Ed in The New York Times Holly Jean Buck on Reversing Climate Change EP103 Holly Jean Buck on Reversing Climate Change S2 Bonus Matthew Yglesias on Reversing Climate Change S2EP35 All Hell Breaking Loose: The Pentagon’s Perspective on Climate Change by Michael T. Klare Sea Power: The History and Geopolitics of the World’s Oceans by Admiral James Stavridis, USN (Ret.)

The vast majority of environmental nonfiction follows a predictable pattern: The writer goes out in nature and then tells us why it’s important to preserve the thing they experienced. But what if we could reach more people and maybe even change their point of view with a more experimental, more whimsical approach? Jess Miles is a recent graduate of Chatham University and author of the MFA thesis ‘Midnight Sun,’ a collection of essays about her time on the Arctic island of Svalbard. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Jess joins Ross to explain what inspired her to pursue science communication, sharing what she does to persuade readers and how she approaches environmental writing differently. Jess opens up about her frustrating experience with canvassing for an environmental organization, describing what she learned about people (and herself!) and how she turned that bad experience into good writing. Listen in to understand why Jess incorporates elements of whimsy in her work and learn how experimental forms of writing can help readers see climate issues in a new light. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources Sadly, too many books referenced and character-capped! Sorry about that, listener! Sunvault: Stories of Solarpunk and Eco-Speculation edited by Phoebe Wagner and Brontë Christopher Wieland ‘Hopepunk and Solarpunk: On Climate Narratives That Go Beyond the Apocalypse’ on Lit Hub Arizona State Center for Science and the Imagination After Geoengineering: Climate Tragedy, Repair, and Restoration by Holly Jean Buck Her The Road Jonathan Safran Foer on RCC S2EP29 Books by Gabriel García Márquez Climate Fiction on Reversing Climate Change S2EP12 Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor Who’s Saving the Planet? Podcast Jess’ Blog on VR and Animal Rights

For years now, we have debated the potential moral hazard of carbon removal, the fear being that we will abandon emissions reductions for the quick fix of carbon capture. But the science is clear: we simply can’t achieve our climate goals with mitigation alone. So, how do we design policy that works toward net zero using a binding emissions reduction pathway AND a strategy for scaling up carbon removal? Christoph Beuttler is the CDR Manager at Climeworks, the global leader in direct air capture technology. He also serves as the Deputy CEO of The Risk Dialogue Foundation and Founding Member of the Board for the Negative Emissions Platform. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Christoph joins Ross to discuss Climeworks’ modular approach to direct air capture, describing how they use solid sorbents to capture carbon dioxide and how that CO2 is either stored permanently or used to replace fossil inputs. Christoph shares his understanding of carbon removal regulations in Europe, explaining how EU businesses interact with policy and why companies are driving voluntary carbon removal markets.  Listen in for insight around the future of the carbon removal sector as a whole and learn how you can help Climeworks realize its audacious goal to achieve gigaton scale in the next two decades! Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources Climeworks Climeworks Web Shop Negative Emissions Platform Will Direct Air Capture Be Centralized or Distributed? on Carbon Removal Newsroom DOE Funding Carbon Removal Projects on Carbon Removal Newsroom Klaus Lackner’s Moisture Swing Sorbent California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard 45Q Credit for Carbon Oxide Sequestration Paris Agreement Microsoft Sustainability  Shopify Environment Stripe Climate ‘Europe’s Climate Goal: Revolution’ in Politico Climeworks’ Orca DAC Plant Carbon180 Climeworks’ Direct Air Capture Summit 2020 Brian von Herzen on Reversing Climate Change (Bonus)

Carbon dioxide is not the only greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. In fact, methane emissions are responsible for 16% of the warming we experience today. And because methane is more potent than CO2, we can make a big impact in a short period of time by addressing the concentrated, continuous methane seeps that exist around the world. Olya Irzak is the Founder and CEO of Frost Methane, a company working to combat climate change through the deployment of remote methane destruction devices. On this episode of the podcast, Olya joins Ross and Christophe to discuss why she chose to focus on methane emissions and explain how her team’s technology works to convert concentrated methane into CO2. Olya describes Frost Methane’s initial work with Arctic permafrost and introduces their new application of the technology in coal mines, sharing how the business generates revenue through carbon markets like California’s cap-and-trade market.  Listen in for Olya’s insight on the benefits of voluntary markets and learn her approach to prioritizing climate interventions to make the biggest impact. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources Frost Methane Frost Methane on LinkedIn Olya on LinkedIn ARPA-E Energy Innovation Summit Center for Negative Carbon Emissions Google’s Climate Change Initiative ‘7,000 Underground Gas Bubbles Poised to Explode in Arctic’ in The Siberian Times Video of Exploding Under-Ice Methane Gas in Siberia Laughlin Barker Pleistocene Park Pleistocene Park on Reversing Climate Change EP073 Dr. Leslie Field Ice 911 ASU’s Arctic Ice Management Project University of Beijing Research on Calving Silver Lining ‘Sometimes Success Is Right Under Your Feet, As Tomato Grower Knows’ in AP News California’s Cap-and-Trade Program Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation Stripe Climate

The feature documentary 2040 poses this question: What would the world look like in 2040 if we embraced the best climate solutions already available to us? One such solution involves restoring ocean ecosystems through marine permaculture, a strategy that leverages kelp forests to drawdown CO2. Dr. Brian von Herzen serves as the Executive Director of the Climate Foundation, the organization using marine permaculture to regenerate life in seas and soils with the goal of reversing climate change in our lifetime. On this bonus episode of the podcast, Brian returns to the show to discuss his appearance in 2040 and explain what the Climate Foundation is working on now as they shift from R&D to building an industry. Brian introduces us to the fundamentals of marine permaculture, exploring its capacity to regenerate life in the ocean and feed billions of people in the process. Listen in for insight on becoming an ocean entrepreneur and learn about the potential for marine permaculture to drawdown carbon (at a remarkably low cost) and move us from fear to love—one kelp forest at a time. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources Climate Foundation Email info@climatefoundation.org Brian on Reversing Climate Change EP034 2040 Damon Gameau Drawdown Seattle The Art of Asking: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Let People Help by Amanda Palmer Minter Ellison Books by Bill Mollison David Holmgren Permaculture Design Principles The One-Straw Revolution: An Introduction to Natural Farming by Masanobu Fukuoka The Intrepid Foundation The University of Tasmania’s Permaculture Research C-Combinator David King’s Piece on Climate Change Intervention in The Washington Post My Octopus Teacher on Netflix The Seasteading Institute

Solving the climate crisis is challenging because it requires both dramatic behavioral change and a great deal of capital. And yet, when faced with a global health crisis, governments were willing to enact multitrillion-dollar aid packages and people radically shifted their behavior in a matter of weeks. So, what if we mobilized against climate change similarly to the way we responded to the coronavirus? Sir David King is the former Chief Scientific Advisor to the Government of the United Kingdom and Rick Parnell is the CEO of the Foundation for Climate Restoration. Together, they coauthored The Washington Post piece, ‘Stopping Climate Change Could Cost Less Than Fighting COVID-19.’ On this episode of the podcast, Sir David and Rick join Ross to discuss the opportunity governments have to invest in climate repair as we rebuild our economies in the aftermath of the global pandemic. Sir David and Rick compare the economic impact of reversing climate change with that of COVID, describing the catastrophic consequences of rising sea levels and explaining what Europe, China, and the US are doing to both reduce emissions and scale direct air capture technologies.  Listen in to understand why the countries that took the advice of scientists fared well in the pandemic and how we might learn from their example to respond to the climate crisis. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Medium Nori on YouTube Nori on GitHub Nori on Patreon Nori Newsletter Email podcast@nori.com Nori White Paper Subscribe on iTunes Carbon Removal Newsroom Resources: Foundation for Climate Restoration Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University Rick on Carbon Removal Newsroom ‘Stopping Climate Change Could Cost Less Than Fighting COVID-19’ in The Washington Post The Thunderbird Study on Market Opportunities in Climate Restoration Sir David’s 2006 Pandemic Prediction

The scale of the climate crisis requires that companies change the way they operate. Yes, it would be easier to simply purchase carbon offsets and continue to do business as usual. But if we are going to succeed in reversing climate change, companies must take the next step and transform their processes from cradle to gate (or even grave if they can!) So, how does a business get started on the path to sustainability? Erin Meezan is the Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer at Interface, Inc., a pioneering modular flooring company with a deep commitment to sustainability. Interface is also the recipient of a 2020 UN Global Climate Action Award and the subject of the new documentary Beyond Zero. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Erin joins Ross to explain what inspired Interface’s commitment to the environment and how the team approached the sustainability conversation with its investors early on. Erin discusses the company’s recent launch of carbon-negative carpet tiles, walking us through the value associated with doing business more sustainably and the necessity of conducting a full life cycle assessment of a given product.  Listen in to understand how Interface is influencing other businesses to make fundamental change and learn how YOUR company might take its first steps to sustainability! Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources Interface, Inc. Erin on LinkedIn Erin on Twitter Interface’s Climate Take Back Mission The Ecology of Commerce: A Declaration of Sustainability by Paul Hawken Paul Hawken FLOR Aquafil Buy Clean California CarbonCure on Reversing Climate Change S2EP16 2020 UN Global Climate Action Awards Beyond Zero Interface’s Lessons Learned Report Confessions of a Radical Industrialist: Profits, People, Purpose—Doing Business by Respecting the Earth by Ray C. Anderson with Robin White

People resist reading about climate change because it seems less immediate than other pressing issues. Add to that the fact that the climate crisis doesn’t lend itself to narrative. So, then, how do you tell an ‘untellable story’ in a way that draws readers in and effectively reorients the way they see the world? Henry Finder and David Remnick are the coeditors of The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Henry and David join Ross to explain what inspired the creation of this new anthology, discussing how they made decisions regarding what pieces to include and what makes writing about climate change such a distinct challenge. Henry and David weigh in on their work as editorial director and editor at The New Yorker, sharing the process they use to conceive of and manage new projects and describing the magazine’s ongoing commitment to long-form writing.  Listen in to understand how optimistic Henry and David are about our ability to address the climate crisis and learn how The Fragile Earth tells the story of climate change through pieces by Bill McKibben, Elizabeth Kolbert, and Jonathan Franzen, among many others. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Nori Newsletter Resources The Fragile Earth: Writing from The New Yorker on Climate Change edited by David Remnick and Henry Finder The New Yorker David Remnick at The New Yorker Lenin’s Tomb: The Last Days of the Soviet Empire by David Remnick The Bridge: The Life and Rise of Barack Obama by David Remnick The New Yorker Radio Hour The End of Nature by Bill McKibben Elizabeth Kolbert Elizabeth Kolbert at The New Yorker Bill McKibben on Reversing Climate Change EP095 Field Notes from a Catastrophe: Man, Nature, and Climate Change by Elizabeth Kolbert The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert ‘Lake Chad: The World’s Most Complex Humanitarian Disaster’ in The New Yorker Jonathan Franzen’s Piece on Antarctica

Prior to 2020, the largest number of acres burned by wildfire in California was 1.3M. Compare that to the 4M acres wiped out by fire this year. What’s more, forest fires are spreading much more quickly and releasing more heat—which leads to last-minute evacuations, a dramatic increase of smoke in the air, and the phenomenon of fire tornados. Daniel Duane is the surfer, naturalist, and author behind this month’s WIRED cover story, ‘The West’s Infernos Are Melting Our Sense of How Fire Works.’ On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Daniel explains why the 2020 fire season is so remarkable and how an accumulating fuel bed on the forest floor contributes to the intensity and severity of the wildfires. He offers insight on indigenous fire management, describing when the anti-burning culture took hold in America and how political pressures make it impossible for our government agencies to manage forests well. Daniel goes on to introduce us to the terrifying phenomenon of a fire tornado, sharing how forest management practices and climate change are both to blame for the increasingly unpredictable, record-breaking wildfires we experience. Listen in for Daniel’s take on what kind of management practices we need to decrease our risk and find out how a pro-development, YIMBY movement could prevent destructive forest fires in the future. Connect with Nori: Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Resources: ‘The West’s Infernos Are Melting Our Sense of How Fire Works’ in WIRED Daniel’s Website Daniel on Twitter Books by Daniel Duane Daniel at WIRED Daniel at Outside Magazine US Forest Service Charles C. Mann on Reversing Climate Change S2EP15 M. Kat Anderson Tending the Wild: Native American Knowledge and the Management of California’s Natural Resources by M. Kat Anderson University of California Forestry Department Brandon Collins The Sagehen Experimental Forest CAL FIRE

“Life does not subtract things; it liberates you from them. It makes you lighter so that you can fly higher and reach the fullness.” --Facundo Cabral Losing your home to a forest fire is a lesson in impermanence and nonattachment. And while Diego Saez-Gil is still processing the loss, he is using the experience as a catalyst, reaffirming his commitment to the pursuit of climate solutions. Diego is the founder and CEO of Pachama, a tech company that leverages AI to drive carbon capture and validate the progress of forest restoration projects for carbon markets, and author of the Medium article, "On Losing Everything to the Climate Crisis, Except for Hope." On this bonus episode of the podcast, Diego joins Ross to discuss how losing his home to a forest fire has given him renewed energy around his work and made him more of a minimalist than ever before. Diego explains how both climate change and poor forest management practices are to blame for 2020’s devastating forest fires, speaking to the permanence issues surrounding ecological methods of sequestering carbon and how carbon markets can make reforestation for carbon sequestration economically viable. Listen in for insight on the success of Pachama’s recent fundraising efforts and learn how you can help protect our global forests by joining Diego’s team. Connect with Nori: Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori Nori on Facebook Nori on Twitter Nori on Patreon Nori Newsletter Email podcast@nori.com Resources: Pachama Apply to Work at Pachama Diego on Reversing Climate Change EP104 Diego’s Medium Article ‘On Losing Everything to the Climate Crisis, Except for Hope’ US Bureau of Land Management US Forest Service Stripe’s Negative Emissions Commitment Breakthrough Energy Ventures Serena Ventures Scott Belsky Tobi Lutke Amazon’s Climate Pledge Pachama’s Blog Welcoming New Investors