Reversing Climate Change

Startups in the CDR space need to succeed quickly if we want to reverse climate change before time runs out. But the current system requires that climatetech founders often devote time to pitching VCs and filling out multiple grant applications. Time that would be better spent developing their solutions. So, what can we do to connect emerging carbon removal companies with the funding they need to move forward? Neesha Mirchandani is Founder and CEO of Impact Stars, a consultancy that helps planet-positive entrepreneurs raise money and attract clients. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change Happy Hour, Neesha joins Ross, Siobhan and Asa to discuss the magnetic pitch method she uses to support CDR startups in attracting venture capital. Neesha explains what VCs look for in a climate startup and shares her frustration with philanthropy’s failure to fill in the funding gaps. Listen in to understand how we might streamline the grant application process for CDR entrepreneurs and get Neesha’s advice on how to ap

While large, industrial cheesemakers are known for consistency and scale, small operations like Uplands Cheese make boutique cheeses unique to the land where they’re produced. And these small, pasture-based dairy farms have their own unique concerns when it comes to climate change. So, how is extreme weather already affecting operations like Uplands Cheese? How does climate factor into future planning for a 300-acre dairy farm? Cheesemaker Andy Hatch is Co-Owner at Uplands, a dairy farm and cheesemaking operation in Southern Wisconsin. Andy’s team produces two award-winning artisan cheeses, Pleasant Ridge Reserve and Rush Creek Reserve. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Andy joins Ross to explain why his team uses a seasonal model for cheesemaking, describing how Pleasant Ridge Reserve is made in the tradition of Alpine cheeses while Rush Creek is modeled after Vacherin Mont d’Or. Andy discusses how warmer, wetter weather is impacting his cows and what Uplands Cheese is doing to reduce its carbon f

Much has been written about the European Theater in World War II. But the war in the Pacific Theater was the largest naval war ever fought. It covered the entire breadth of the Pacific Ocean, and much of the fighting took place in remote, wild environments. How did the conflict impact those environments heretofore untouched by the outside world? And what about the Indigenous peoples who lived there? Ian W. Toll is the author of Six Frigates: The Epic History of the Founding of the US Navy and the Pacific War Trilogy—Pacific Crucible, The Conquering Tide, and Twilight of the Gods. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Ian joins Ross to explain how airbases were built on hundreds of Pacific islands during WWII and describe how the scale of development radically and irrevocably changed the ecosystems there. Ian discusses how hundreds of shipwrecks from WWII have the potential to turn into environmental disasters at any time and weighs in on what we can do to avoid a modern-day war in the Pacific—and why i

With a problem as monumental as the climate crisis, we have a tendency toward proportionality bias. We often believe that the issue has a single cause and can only be solved with a few large-scale solutions. But in the case of climate change, a diversity of solutions may be faster and more effective than putting all our eggs in a few big baskets. And that’s why Todd Myers focuses on what individuals can do to solve climate change—while the politicians slug it out over broad policy measures. Todd serves as Environmental Director at the Washington Policy Center. He is also the author of the new book, Time to Think Small: How Nimble Environmental Technologies Can Solve the Planet’s Biggest Problems. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Todd joins Ross to explore how individual efforts can fill in the gaps left behind by government policies and explain how climate change differs from pollution in the 1970’s. Todd discusses the data collected by citizen science apps like iNaturalist or eBird an

Of all philanthropy globally, only a couple percentage points go to climate in general. And of that couple percentage points, only something like 2% of climate giving is dedicated to carbon removal. The problem is, we need to fund several gigatonnes of carbon removal per year by 2050 to combat climate change. And that’s going to cost hundreds of billions of dollars. So, how do we encourage governments, corporations and philanthropists to support carbon removal? How might the average person make a tax-deductible donation to fund carbon removal? Alex Roetter is Founder of Terraset, a new nonprofit climate fund that uses private philanthropy to invest in carbon removal projects. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Alex joins Ross to explain how the underfunding of carbon removal inspires his philanthropic work, and why reducing emissions alone is not enough to curb climate change. Alex discusses the well-known donors and carbon removal providers Terraset is working with and describes the criteria his te

Cheese can be both rarified and common. It is also an industry that impacts and is impacted by climate change. Today’s guest is author and cheese expert, Liz Thorpe. Liz is known for working her way up at New York City’s Murray’s Cheese shop, and taking it from a specialty shop to kiosks in Kroger stores across America, making cheese accessible and available to the American general public. Today, Liz serves as Founder of The People’s Cheese, a platform designed to teach a broader market why cheese matters and how to make it part of everyday life. She is also the author of The Book of Cheese and The Cheese Chronicles. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Liz joins Ross to explain how she pushes back against an elitist interpretation of cheese, and explores how the American desire for choice and innovation translates to the cheese market in the US. Liz discusses how our industrialized food system contributes to climate change and describes how government subsidies and taxes often exacerbate the problem.

To tackle the climate change problem, we need to move traditional industries closer to net-zero and create new industries from scratch. But how do you build a new carbon removal industry, for example? What is the best way to nurture startups in the climatetech space? Jennifer Wagner is a Breakthrough Energy Business Fellow where she helps early-stage climatetech startups advance the groundbreaking technologies we need to reach net-zero by 2050. Prior to joining Breakthrough, Jennifer served as VP of Sustainability, EVP of Corporate Development, and President of CarbonCure Technologies in her 12 years with the company. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Jennifer joins Siobhan and Asa to walk us through the journey of a Breakthrough Energy Fellows startup and describe how the program supports its teams in scaling up. Jennifer discusses the three teams with female founders she works with directly and explains how to work through a high volume of applicants and find the right people for your clima

The first cleantech bubble burst in the oughts, but the industry didn’t go away. And now, we’ve entered a second big wave of "climatetech" investment. So, is this wave more promising than the first? Are we moving into a golden age for climatetech? Or is it too dissimilar to make comparisons? Joel Makower is Cofounder and Chairman of GreenBiz, a leading media and events company at the intersection of business, sustainability, and innovation. He also serves as cohost of the GreenBiz 350 Podcast. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Joel joins Ross to discuss how climatetech may have followed the Gartner Hype Cycle and describe what factors caused the first cleantech bubble to burst. Joel explains why corporations are much more involved in Cleantech 2.0 and explores the ongoing politicization of climate change, despite the efforts of some (like the military) to prepare for a climate crisis. Listen in for Joel’s insight on the near future of climatetech and learn about the extraordinary opportunity he bel

Progressives generally support regulations that protect the environment. But the permitting process has become so complex that it can take five years and 500 pages of documentation to get a project off the ground. And that red tape is holding up the clean energy projects we need to reverse climate change. Chris Barnard is Policy Director at the American Conservation Coalition and a regular guest on our sister podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Chris joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to explain how regulations can prevent us from building climate infrastructure and explore the potential for bipartisan collaboration on permitting reform. Chris discusses how permitting interacts with issues of eminent domain and describes what community engagement looks like in the permitting process. Listen in for Chris’s insight on the regulatory barriers to realizing carbon removal at scale and learn how we might streamline the permitting process without weakening environmental standards

As the number of blockchain-enabled climate solutions multiplies, founders need funding to get their projects off the ground. Ben West is Head of Causes at Gitcoin, a company that helps early-stage crypto projects get funding. In his role, Ben supports Gitcoin’s climate solutions, DE&I, decentralized science, and advocacy rounds. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Ben joins Ross and cohosts Alexsandra Guerra, Head of Demand, and Daren McKelvey, Head of Crypto Partnerships at Nori, to discuss the process grantees go through to win funding from Gitcoin. Ben explains how his background in climate activism informs his work at Gitcoin and shares what he learned from researching blockchain-enabled climate solutions for the Ethereum Foundation. Listen in for Ben’s insight on the growth of the overlap between climate and crypto and learn how your project can apply for Gitcoin’s next climate round. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Join Nori's Discord to hang

To facilitate carbon removal at gigaton scale, we need investors to put their money in climate solutions. But VCs are often used to investing in in bits, not atoms. Climatetech hardware is more expensive and more challenging to replicate than software in many cases. And it’s more challenging to achieve orders of magnitude growth in a physical environment than a digital one. So, what is the best way to finance climate solutions? Dr. Marcius Extavour, PhD, is Chief Scientist and EVP of Energy and Climate at XPRIZE, a nonprofit that facilitates large-scale global competitions to crowdsource solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Dr. Extavour joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to explore the current landscape of climatetech investment and explains why he wants to see more women and underrepresented minorities in the capital system. Dr. Extavour discusses the carbon removal projects that are farthest along in terms of capitalization and describes the opportunities for

Darwin and others theorized that evolution was about the survival of the fittest. But when Peter Kropotkin followed up on Darwin’s research, he discovered the competition was only part of the story of evolution in nature. And Kropotkin argued that cooperation and collaboration among organisms also helps them evolve. So, why is Darwin’s narrative the dominant one? And how can an understanding of mutualism help us protect the ecosystems we depend on and find solutions to climate change? Kristin Ohlson is an award-winning freelance journalist and author of The Soil Will Save Us: How Scientists, Farmers, and Foodies are Healing the Soil to Save the Planet. Her new release is called Sweet in Tooth and Claw: Stories of Generosity and Cooperation in the Natural World. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Kristin joins Ross to explain why the study of mutualism in the evolution of nature has lagged, and challenge us to recognize and protect the cooperative relationships among organisms in our ecosystems. Kris

When corn is harvested, the remaining corn stover either gets tilled into the soil or left on top. But what if we took a portion of that corn stover, converted it into carbon-rich bio-oil, and pumped it deep underground? Peter Reinhardt is Cofounder and CEO of Charm Industrial, a carbon removal company that is working on a fleet of mobile pyrolyzers that covert ag biomass into bio-oil and sequester it underground. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Peter joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to walk us through the process Peter’s team uses to produce bio-oil and weigh in on why he refers to it as ‘BBQ sauce’ in his pitch for Charm. Peter explains why Charm developed its own measurement, reporting, and verification (MRV) system and explores how much bio-feedstock is available for bio-oil production in the US and around the world. Listen in to understand the big questions around IP in carbon removal and learn how Charm is turning biomass residue into bio-oil for use in carbon removal and other industrial appli

Lyn Stoler and Sonam Velani have coined the phrase Climate Industrialism to describe the optimistic, action-oriented response to climate change they already see happening in many communities around the world. Lyn and Sonam define Climate Industrialism as ‘a social and economic system built on the creation of climate technologies that yield human and environmental co-benefits.’ What does that mean, exactly? And how does Climate Industrialism create a virtuous cycle for companies building climate solutions and the cities where they choose to build? Lyn and Sonam are the cocreators of Parachute, a research and storytelling project that shares climate solutions with local governments around the world to make our cities more beautiful, more livable, and more resilient. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Lyn and Sonam join Ross to explore their new model of Climate Industrialism and explain why cities need to take the lead on climate action. Lyn and Sonam discuss the history behind the regulations and per

Does the carbon removal tech you’re developing have a shot at being cost-competitive in the real world? How might you reduce the cost of a given CDR technology? And how do you convince government funders or investors that your carbon removal idea is viable? A techno-economic assessment or TEA answers these questions. So, what is involved in conducting a techno-economic assessment? And how might it help a startup improve the economic performance of its climate tech and maximize its impact? Grant Faber is Founder and President of Carbon-Based Consulting, a firm that offers techno-economic assessments, early-stage emissions accounting, and market research for startups, investors, and environmental nonprofits in the CDR and CCUS space. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Grant joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to explain why an understanding of economics is crucial in carbon removal and how a TEA helps us determine the cost per tonne of carbon removal. Grant walks us through the concept of learning rate

The easier it is to participate in a sustainability program like Nori, the less motivation it requires for farmers to enroll. But the current lack of digitization in the ag space makes it challenging for farmers to get paid for carbon removal. So, is there an easy way to track agricultural data and compensate farmers for regenerative practices? Dane Braun is Vice President of Product at Bushel, an ag software company that is digitizing the infrastructure for grain. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Dane joins Ross and Nori team members Laura Satkowski and Jada Dormaier, to explain how our partnership with Bushel makes it easy for farmers to practice carbon removal. Dane shares Bushel’s efforts to standardize and connect the many digital applications available to farmers and describes how growers might use data to make decisions around implementing regenerative practices. Listen in to understand the parallels between how grain is priced as a commodity and the NORI token and learn how farmers might b

A lot of good comes from travel. It gives us a chance to disconnect and recharge. It exposes us to new things and helps us connect with nature and other people. Plus, we contribute to the local economies in the places we visit. But travel is not always good for planet. And the climate-conscious among us often feel guilty about the emissions we create when we get on a plane or fill up at the pump for a road trip. So, what can we do to make travel more environmentally friendly? Christina Beckmann is the cocreator of Tomorrow’s Air, a collective for travelers and travel businesses to support the scale up of carbon removal technologies. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Christina joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to discuss the layers of responsibility for climate change and who should be held accountable among travel operators, airlines, governments, and individual travelers. Christina explains what differentiates the adventure travel community from more “consumptive” travelers and how Tomorrow’s Air

Local governments are surprisingly powerful levers for carbon removal. While large national governments can be slow and unwieldy, cities and counties can sometimes be much more nimble. They can get carbon removal projects off the ground quickly and share what they learn with other local governments. So, which municipalities are taking the lead in the CDR space? And how do they integrate carbon removal in the local government landscape? Susie Strife is the Boulder County Director of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience; Ramón DC Alatorre is Climate and Energy Coordinator for the City of Flagstaff; and Chris Neidl is Cofounder of OpenAir Collective. Together, they are collaborators in forming the Four Corners Carbon Removal Coalition, an alliance of local governments that are pooling resources to fund CDR projects in the Four Corners region of the Southwest US. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Susie, Ramón, and Chris join Ross and Siobhan to explain why Flagstaff and Boulder are ahead of th

There are few ways for individuals to participate in carbon removal. Typically, carbon removal is something that someone else does that you pay for. But what if there was a way for you to practice carbon removal in your own backyard with biochar? Connor Lascelles and Lottie Hawkins are the Cofounders of Earthly Biochar, a company that manufactures consumer-accessible biochar kilns. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Connor and Lottie join Ross and cohost Jada Dormaier, Supply Account Manager at Nori, to explain what differentiates biochar from charcoal and other soil amendments and how it benefits the soil. Connor and Lottie describe the process of making your own biochar in an Earthly kiln, discussing where to go for feedstock, and how neighborhoods and municipalities might develop community biochar programs. Listen in for insight on what questions to ask before you purchase biochar and learn how to try your hand at carbon removal with an Earthly kiln. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removal

We live in a culture that glamorizes grit and derides giving up. But in the world of climate startups, we can’t afford to spend time on projects that aren’t working. So, how do you know when to quit? Decision Strategist Annie Duke is a retired professional poker player and World Series of Poker bracelet holder. She is also the author of several books, including Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Annie joins Ross to explain how to apply decision-making skills from poker and her research in the context of a climate startup. Annie walks us through her three strategies for deciding when to fold, challenging us to set explicit kill criteria and leverage the ‘monkeys and pedestals’ mental model to abandon projects that aren’t working. Listen in for Annie’s insight on prioritizing moonshots that develop useful technology and learn how to persevere when projects are worthwhile—and walk away when they’re not. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's