Reversingclimatechange Podcasts

Can a tiny life be meaningful?For this Thanksgiving Day episode of Reversing Climate Change, join us for stories about food, family, connection, and love.Ross reaches across the pond to speak with Helen Rebanks, farmer, shepherd, and author of The Farmer's Wife: My Life in Days. She is the wife of another farmer, James Rebanks, author of The Shephe…

This week, we’re bringing you a panel discussion from the Institute for Carbon Removal Law and Policy’s annual CDR conference. Our policy panelist, Wil Burns, hosted the conference and led this panel discussion on the role of mandates in growing CDR in the US. The US government has stepped forward into the role of subsidizing and encouraging CDR in…

Starbucks is finding new mountains to grow coffee on, agribusiness is developing drought resistant seeds, and the governments are building seawalls. So what can individuals and families do to adapt themselves?! This week Ross is joined by David Pogue, CBS News Sunday Morning correspondent, former New York Times weekly tech columnist, and author of …

Do carbon credit ratings help or harm the growth of carbon markets? How important is standardization to liquidity? Should we look to lessons from the bond market? Equities? Commodities? Derivatives? Precious metals? Real estate?! Get ready to go full high finance — it’s a show about market structure. In this episode, Reversing Climate Change’s host…

In recent months, we’ve covered CDR developments in the EU, followed CDR’s role in international climate agreements, and interviewed startups working to bring DAC to Kenya. There’s so much happening with CDR around the globe that it’s a challenge to cover all the news of carbon removal’s rise. That’s why on this episode we’re fortunate to have Tom …

Is hunting on the brink of extinction? Is that a good or a bad thing? In this episode, we delve into the intricate connection between the art of hunting and our profound relationship with the natural world. Our is guest Bruce McGlenn, Founder and Lead Instructor of Human Nature Hunting—a program that, as Bruces describes it, is fundamentally and fo…

As CDR’s notoriety increases, so too does the scrutiny upon it. Carbon removal companies are beginning to deploy in communities, and are facing local concerns about the effect their projects will have communities. As these companies work to communicate the benefits of their projects, a CDR trade group is announcing a new program to help companies r…

What if you bought carbon removal, not as an offset, but rather as a gift? This week we sat down with the founding team at Thanks a Ton (Laura Katayama, Tessaria Mihangel, and our own Siobhan Montoya Lavender), a carbon dioxide removal gifting startup on a mission to spread awareness about the burgeoning high-quality CDR industry. “We take climate …

In our guest’s corner of the geoscience field, inertinites are well-known to be stable forms of carbon. So Hamed Sanei was surprised to learn that there was significant debate over the stability of CO2 storage in biochar, which is an inertinite. In his view, the science of that question has been settled for a long time, and the answer is clear: bio…

A few weeks ago, the US government announced it would directly purchase carbon removal. The Department of Energy released news of a $35 million fund to procure CDR credits. The prize fund will take the form of offtake agreements and cover four pathways. More and more governments are funding CDR pilots, supporting research, and adding CDR targets to…

In this week’s episode, the name of the goal is not ‘net zero’, it’s regeneration. We’re joined by Paul Hawken: author of many books including Drawdown and Regeneration, activist, and entrepreneur to talk about the tools that he believes can end the climate crisis. Paul takes us through the concept of "carbon tunnel syndrome," an overemphasis on ca…

Not long ago it was difficult to find any information about the carbon removal ecosystem in Europe. Beyond academic papers, and a researcher or two at larger environmental non-profits, CDR policy was not an area with a mature ecosystem. The situation is much different today. Not only is the EU considering ways to incorporate removals into their exi…

Solar geoengineering. It's not just a question of whether or not to do it, but of how it might be done and why. This week we are joined by Shuchi Talati, founder of The Alliance for Just Deliberation on Solar Geoengineering, to talk about who is making decisions about solar geoengineering and whether or not populations most vulnerable to climate ch…

It’s been a few months since our business panel has gathered to break down the many headlines coming from the world of CDR. On this episode we’ll talk about some of the biggest news from September: new funds, new deployments, new corporate purchases, and a gathering of the who’s who in carbon removal in New York City. You’ll hear news about Amazon …

Imagine a biomass substance that reduces our reliance on petroleum and deforestation for physical products. This is the vision of Hexas Biomass, a company that is developing new raw materials from sustainable sources. Their flagship product, XanoFiber, has been bred to possibly be(!) a #carbonnegative fiber that can be used to create a wide range o…

Carbon removal credits need to be much more trustworthy than carbon offsets are today in order to scale-up CDR. On last week’s show, we covered the news that the voluntary carbon markets have shrunk this year. After many carbon offset projects have come under scrutiny, corporate buyers have grown more hesitant. To prove that carbon removal is worth…

Is buying carbon credits like buying real estate? What would a tradable commodity market for the carbon removal industry look like? In today's episode, Ross sits down with Matt Trudeau, Nori’s new CEO, to get a glimpse of how a veteran market builder thinks about building carbon markets that meet the challenges of a rapidly scaling industry. Matt t…

The voluntary carbon market (VCM) has a total value of over $2 billion, and some predictions show it growing to $10 billion in just a few years. But the integrity of the carbon offsets available has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years, causing demand to slow and prices to go down. According to a new report from Morgan Stanley the market …

Kenya is exploding into the Direct Air Capture scene. New York City is hosting the first ever global DAC conference. And while Al Gore is deeply knowledgeable about climate change, he might be wrong about carbon removal. In this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Jason Hochman, the co-founder and senior director of the DAC Coalition, takes us on …

In this episode of Reversing Climate Change, we are joined once again by Caroline Saunders, a skilled pastry chef and dedicated recipe tester, who channels her passion into crafting delectable treats using climate-friendly ingredients. Ross Kenyon and Radhika Moolgavkar enthusiastically embraced the challenge of trying Caroline’s climate-friendly b…

Extreme heat. What does it feel like? Why is it getting worse and who is it impacting? In this Reversing Climate Change podcast episode, we spoke with Jeff Goodell, contributing editor at Rolling Stone and author of The Water Will Come and his latest, The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet. Tune in to hear about Jeff Good…

Does culture eat strategy for breakfast? What does a successful carbon removal community look like? Who ordered the veal cutlet? Join us in this episode of Reversing Climate Change featuring Jason Grillo, Director of Partnerships and Operations at AirMiners. Discover how culture takes center stage at AirMiners, one of the major communities empoweri…

When you’re born into a winemaking dynasty, there’s a lot of momentum to carry on the family business. But also a lot of pressure to make your own mark. Carlo Mondavi is the co-founder and Chief Farming Officer at Monarch, creators of the Monarch Tractor, an electric smart tractor that may offer a better and safer product than conventional diesel t…

This month, there’s been a flurry of business news in the CDR world. We’re taking August off from the show, but before we go we’re going to dive into 10 stories that broke in the last few weeks, that have big implications for the carbon removal industry. On this episode hear about companies putting CO2 into concrete, plastics, and fuel, new investm…

How does it work to buy carbon removal credits from early stage startups and resell them later for profit? What does it mean to support carbon removal startups without equity financing? Are alternatives available beyond conventional venture funding? Enter: the AirMiners Kiloton Fund. Tune in this week as the great Tito Jankowski, CEO and cofounder …

Last week Octavia Carbon announced they are planning to build a DAC plant in the Great Rift Valley in Kenya, the first such plant in the Southern Hemisphere. The Valley formed as a result of three tectonic plates meeting in one place. This phenomenon has created unique geology, which the entrepreneurs at Octavia feel could be an ideal place to capt…

We’ve been covering a lot of US state and federal CDR policy in the last few episodes. Today we’re taking a much-needed international trip and discussing some critical stories happening across the globe. Zimbabwe’s government has announced new regulations on voluntary carbon offset trading to prevent greenwashing and ensure that local communities b…

The Xprize’s Carbon Removal prize has been one of the most exciting stories in CDR. As it seeks to pump $100 million towards carbon removal projects, the organization is also taking steps to ensure that funding supports companies that benefit, rather than harm, the communities they work in. This is no small detail, but in fact a main question about…

If you’ve been following the development of CDR policy, you’ve probably heard of the volunteer advocacy group OpenAir Collective. Just a few weeks ago our guest Sebastian Manhart said on this show “There’s no state that has policy movement that OpenAir collective didn’t have their fingers all over. I’m really impressed by the results of this kind o…

This conversation is a re-run of a segment from an episode we released earlier this month. On this episode we welcome a thought leader in free-market environmental policy - Todd Myers, the Director of the Center for the Environment at the Washington Policy Center. His 2022 book, “Time to Think Small: How nimble environmental technologies can solve …

Reversing Climate Change presents an enlightening conversation with Kevin Whilden, the co-founder and co-director of Sustainable Surf, where they delve into the captivating world of ocean restoration, the power of storytelling, and the remarkable phenomenon of blue carbon. Join Ross and Siobhan as they navigate the complexities of carbon offsetting…

CDR startups are under pressure from numerous sources including current economic downturns, criticisms from the United Nations about carbon removal methods, and problems within the carbon offset market. Despite these challenges, significant investments continue to flow into the industry. This is largely due to the perception among investors that CD…

In this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, cohosts Ross Kenyon and Siobhan Montoya Lavender are joined by Erika Reinhardt, Co-founder and Executive Director of Spark Climate Solutions. Together, they delve into the pressing issue of methane and its increasing significance in the climate zeitgeist, and when can we expect methane remova…

On this episode we’re joined by Sebastian Manhart, a tech entrepreneur and policy expert who is serving as the Senior Policy Advisor at Carbonfuture, a purveyor of high-quality CDR credits based in Germany. He is analyzing the growth of CDR policy worldwide and has recently published “CDR Policy Maturity” across all 50 U.S. states. This comprehensi…

The carbon removal industry and science have evolved greatly since Nori was founded in 2017. In this special Reversing Climate Change episode, Nori's Head of Supply and Methodology Radhika Moolgavkar, joins host Ross Kenyon to talk through what’s changed, what’s still the same, and how Nori is evolving with a new net-zero-friendly ‘blended tonne’ t…

Since last year’s landmark climate legislation, members of congress are looking for niche areas of climate progress. Enter the Carbon Removal and Emissions Storage Technologies (CREST) Act, a bipartisan piece of legislation aimed at accelerating carbon removal and storage solutions. It was introduced by U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Maria Cantwel…

What does a utopian second-generation Direct Air Capture (DAC) system look like, and how does it differ from what we have now? In this engaging episode of Reversing Climate Change, Ross and Siobhan have a very frank and honest discussion with Sampo Tukiainen, a farmer, apiarist, meditator, rifleman and the CEO of C-Fix, a second-generation #directa…

An important climate body at the U.N. is causing controversy as they seek to define use of CDR, and many supporters of carbon removal are not happy. The UNFCCC is in the process of figuring out how carbon removal fits into emissions reduction plans. A recent draft statement caused a stir among advocates of CDR and climate experts, as it described C…

Making decisions for your garden and yard is often a yearly exercise. But for long-lived perennials, you need to start thinking about how climate change is going to impact your region. But don't start loading up on olive trees just yet... Today on the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Sally Morgan, coauthor of The Climate Change Garden: Down to Ear…

Robert Höglund refers to himself as a "chronicler of CDR" or Carbon Dioxide Removal. He has established himself as an authority in this area, providing enlightening insights through his popular blog, Marginal Carbon. His significant contributions to Milywire, a CDR fund, coupled with his extensive involvement in various roles as a Climate Advisor, …

In this episode, Ross and Siobhan are joined by Ongeleigh Underwood and Nikki Batchelor to delve into the newly released report from the Circular Carbon Network, an initiative of XPRIZE. The report provides valuable insights into the state of the Circular Carbon Market, addressing crucial questions such as who is building Carbon Dioxide Removal (CD…

Beast and Cleaver, a butcher shop and charcuterie in Seattle, is on a mission to elevate the craft of butchery to true artistry. They want you to eat meat of higher quality, and yes, less of it. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, the founder of Beast and Cleaver, Kevin Smith, joins Ross to discuss his butcher shop’s unique approach to loc…

Following 2015’s UN Paris Agreement, each signatory country submitted a strategy indicating how they intend to decarbonize their economy. While much of the work comes from cutting emissions, plans can also include a ‘residual emissions’ category- that’s where carbon removal comes in. But recent research from our panelist Holly Buck and her colleagu…

Last year Planetary Technologies won the Carbon Xprize Milestone award for their ocean-based CDR method. That same year they started testing their ocean alkalinity enhancement process in a small trial in England, partnering with the local water company. The test showed improved alkalinity and reduced CO2 in local waters. Now the company plans to do…

PlantVillage won the Carbon XPRIZE milestone award in 2022, and was awarded one million dollars. It aims to lift 200 million African farming families out of poverty. They are working to capture and sell a billion tonnes of carbon per year using biochar sequestration by integrating trees with crops on farms and using lumber for biochar. So what exac…

In December 2022, the carbon credit platform Puro added a methodology for enhanced rock weathering (ERW) credits. This announcement opens the door for the ERW to be sold into the billion-dollar voluntary carbon marks. ERW is one of the oldest known forms of carbon removal, long studied by geologists. But it is only recently that a growing number of…

What goes into the making of a carbon removal meme? How many pitches does it take before magic comes out? Why do some many captions end up as emojis?!Nori's Memelab: Ross Kenyon, Siobhan Montoya Lavender, and Asa Kamer film their writer's room meeting on a lark to show how we go from a notion to something we think worthy of sharing with our communi…

CarbonCapture is looking to build a large-scale direct air capture facility in Rock Springs, Wyoming, a town with deep roots in the coal industry. And last fall, the company invited the community to a town hall event to learn more about the initiative, known as Project Bison, and its aim to remove five million tonnes of CO2 annually by 2030. How di…

A massive amount of seaweed known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is growing as a response to climate change. To date, it has expanded to a width twice that of the United States. When sargassum reaches the coast, it causes human health problems, destroys ecosystems, and wipes out tourism, usually in communities that don’t have the resources to…

About one year ago we were joined on this show by Toby Bryce, who works with the volunteer-advocacy group the OpenAir Collective on a variety of projects that support the growth of carbon removal. Toby told us about the groups work advocating for state-level legislation called the Carbon Dioxide Removal Leadership Act in New York State. Since then,…