Stay ConnectedReversing Climate Change is a podcast about carbon removal and climatetech that keeps wandering off into literature, history, philosophy, theology, and geopolitics on the theory that the technical and scientific questions stop making much sense without them. Hosted by Ross Kenyon, who did not go past a year of political philosophy PhD coursework and has visibly not let it go.
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Copyright: © Nori
What does it mean to farm regeneratively? Or to farm conventionally, for that matter? Is regenerative agriculture size-dependent? What are its benefits and how does it work?
Today's Reversing Climate Change podcast episode has Jada Dormaier, Supply Account Manager at the Nori carbon removal marketplace, join Nori Cofounder and Director of Creative & Marketing, Ross Kenyon, to discuss regenerative ag.
Like our recent show reintroducing carbon removal generally, we thought it was a good idea to go back to basics on regenerative agriculture. We've put out lots of shows on the topic, but sometimes you need to redo the 101 and catch those newer to the topic up to speed.
In this show, Jada talks about growing up on a farm, working in farm insurance, and then at Nori for the last several years. She has a huge amount of experience with farmers working to change their practices and just make sure their businesses stay afloat. There are plenty of misconceptions about food, farming, rural communities, and agriculture, and Jada shares her experience of what to keep in mind on the topic.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
S2E57: Farming While Black: race and regenerative agriculture—w/ Leah Penniman of Soul Fire Farms
309: Will Harris's Legendary Regenerative Agriculture Journey, AKA A Bold Return to Giving a Damn
S2E44: Can permaculture scale?-w/Mark Shepard, author of Restoration Agriculture
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/315-what-is-regenerative-agriculture-702
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
Does liberalism's attempt to let us all pursue different visions of the good life ironically make the good life even harder to achieve? Should there be an established church? Are the people who hold these ideas politically ascendent, or likely to remain part of a small counter-revolutionary fringe?
In this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon invites Dr. Kevin Vallier, Associate Professor and Director of the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics program at Bowling Green State University, on to discuss the rise(?) of Catholic integralist thought, with which he engages in his latest book, All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism.
Vallier provides a comprehensive overview of integralism, a formerly default ideological perspective derived from various religious traditions (but especially Catholicism), which advocates for religious governance and the intertwining of church and state. He lays out its history, core ideas, and some speculation on its sociology.
Critics of modernity argue that free choice has led to a libertinism that has lowered standards and made us less happy and that we should return to an explicitly religiously ordered society with established churches and codes of behavior. Liberalism, in trying to be all things to all people, has made it adaptive but offering very little public meaning. That, it turns out, is the responsibility of the private person.
Vallier steelmans these ideas to the best of his ability in an attempt to reckon with them as a a devout member of the Orthodox Church, while also defending the importance of the liberal tradition.
Of course, were liberalism to be replaced by such a tradition, there are huge open questions of how that might impact world politics and climate action. Vallier predicts (and maybe even hopes) it remains a small intellectual insurgency rather than becoming what its advocates desire.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
All the Kingdoms of the World: On Radical Religious Alternatives to Liberalism
The Priestly Fraternity of Saint Peter (FSSP)
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/314-will-catholic-integralism-be-d16
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
When people think about innovation in carbon removal, they're probably thinking about physics or materials science. How do we make CDR faster, cheaper, more durable, or use less energy? What if we told you that a lot of the innovation that is coming is financial and/or contractual?
In this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon and Nori CEO Matt Trudeau are joined by Racheal Notto, Director of Carbon Markets Engagement at Kita, and James Kench, the Head of Insurance at Kita. Their conversation explores how insurance can play a key role in managing risks within the carbon markets, and why it isn't already more of a player. Insurance companies are the professed masters of risk management. Carbon markets have a fair amount of risk. Shouldn't there be a bigger crossover?!
Kita, a London-based insurance company focusing specifically on insuring carbon projects, explains their goal of derisking high-quality carbon projects, and what that can add to all players in the space.
The discussants weigh the pros and cons of buffer pools vs. insurance and get answers for why some high-quality carbon removal projects may actually be uninsurable.
Insurance is important for any industry to grow. This could be a sign of another step in the carbon removal sector's growing maturity.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
"Buffers and Insurance in the Voluntary Carbon Market: A Comprehensive Overview" by Kita
"Could VCM buffer pool design risk a "bank run"?" by Matt Trudeau
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/313-can-carbon-removal-be-insuredw-608
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
Everyone right now is talking about regenerative agriculture. What does it look like when major cash crops work to improve their practices? How can the Department of Agriculture and agricultural science programs at universities support the changes so that major commodity operations can derisk their transition?
In today's episode of Reversing Climate Change, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon is joined by Nori Supply Account Manager, Jada Dormaier, to discuss Nori's partnership with the Texas Climate-Smart Initiative. Dr. Julie Howe, Project Director of the program and Soil Scientist at Texas A&M, joins the show to talk about her work trying to understand nutrient cycling and change the way we farm.
The conversation delves into Dr. Howe's background and what led her to focus on soil chemistry and eventually agricultural sustainability, which is a hot topic even in places some might not expect. It isn't all about yield!
They explore the complexities of agricultural research within an open system with countless variables, which hurts Ross's brain, before moving into a discussion about carbon credits and how farmers can consider these opportunities and additional government programs for ecosystem services.
Dr. Howe emphasizes the importance of implementing climate-smart farming practices, not only for the environment but also for the sustainability and profitability of farming operations. Listen in to get a glimpse inside Nori and the Texas Climate-Smart Initiative.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction and Guest Introduction
00:38 Dr. Julie Howe's Journey into Agriculture
02:09 The Intersection of Agriculture and Environmental Sustainability
03:34 The Challenges and Risks in Farming
11:20 The Role of Climate Smart Initiative in Agriculture
16:53 The Process and Benefits of Joining Climate Programs
24:52 The Science and Challenges of Agricultural Research
37:27 Encouraging Farmers to Join Climate Programs
40:42 Conclusion and Final Thoughts
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Texas Climate-Smart Initiative
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/312-noris-collab-with-the-texas-climate-f4b
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
Reversing Climate Change is many things: a repository of deep dives into carbon removal, a way to intimately understand the thought processes of the folks at Nori working to build a scalable carbon removal marketplace, and a massive catalogue of the infinite number of climate-adjacencies that tickle host Ross Kenyon's brain. And sometimes you've got to get back to basics and reintroduce a topic to catch new listeners up. To that effect, today's show is twenty minutes on the basics of carbon removal.
In this episode, Ross Kenon, Cofounder of and Director of Creative & Marketing at the Nori carbon removal marketplace, chats with Nori's Head of Supply and Methodology, Radhika Moolgavkar, about carbon removal—what it is and why it's necessary.
They discuss the differences between open and closed CDR systems, the need for a combination of all carbon removal technologies, and why carbon accounting is so complex. They also touch on the intersection of carbon removal technologies with the oil and gas industry and the geopolitical considerations involved in carbon removal strategies.
The episode serves as a resource for listeners who are new to the concept of carbon removal! If you are new to CDR, start here!
Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
00:41 Understanding Carbon Removal
03:18 The Importance of Carbon Removal
05:40 Types of Carbon Removal
14:02 Challenges in Carbon Accounting
18:16 The Role of Oil and Gas in Carbon Removal
19:55 Conclusion
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
If you want to deep dive into carbon removal and are considering a career change, AirMiners Boot Up is a great place to start.
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/311-carbon-removal-101-what-is-cdrw-6de
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
What does it mean to work "in Product", let alone at a company working on climate change? What is the difference between Product and Engineering? And what the hell are they building in there anyways?!In this conversation, Nori cofounder Ross Kenyon is joined by Nori's Head of Product, Patrick Tsao, to discuss Patrick's role in scaling climate action. How much of this work is strategy, how much is building tools, and are we meant to be empirical or aprioristic "first principles" thinkers? What are the risks of each?Patrick emphasizes the struggle of understanding and meeting customers' goals in the constantly evolving #carbonmarket, and when and how to work on education beyond the norm.We aim to be doing more regular Product updates moving forward!
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Patrick Tsao's LinkedIn profile
Nori's Net-Zero Tonnes (NZT)
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/310-the-role-of-product-leadership-35c
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
What does regenerative agriculture mean to you? Whither Big Regen?
To Will Harris, author of A Bold Return to Giving a Damn, One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food,it means restarting the cycles of nature—making them healthy again. This week on Reversing Climate Change, Ross Kenyon and Jada Dormaier from Nori are joined by Will Harris to discuss his remarkable journey from industrial to regenerative farming.
The conversation is simultaneously a beginners introduction, and a deep dive into regenerative farming practices.
The conversation covers the shift from efficiency, the complexities of greenwashing in agriculture, the role of big food companies, the challenges in balancing local and national food production, and the intricacies of feeding the world while considering the environmental consequences of commercial farming. Oh, and don’t forget carbon credits.
Tune in to explore the nuanced goal of creating food systems that are good for the planet, animals, and eaters.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Bluffton, Georgia
A Bold Return to Giving a Damn: One Farm, Six Generations, and the Future of Food
University of Georgia Animal and Dairy Science
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/309-will-harriss-legendary-regenerative-da1
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
A disaster has arrived. Do you have the right supplies? The right mindset? Are you ready?
Last time this topic came up, we spoke with David Pogue on enormous questions of how to choose where to live and to make sure you are relatively prepared for the climate-changed future. This show is downstream from there: what do you do given that you potentially are not moving somewhere else and need to keep yourself and family safe immediately?
In this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Ross Kenyon hosts Jeanne Chilton Devon and Bill Fulton, authors of Survive and Thrive: How to Prepare for Any Disaster Without Ammo, Camo, or Eating Your Neighbor; and The Blood of Patriots: How I Took Down an Anti-Government Militia with Beer, Bounty Hunting, and Badassery.
They discuss the importance of being prepared for disasters, triggered by their experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. They emphasise that preparation helps reduce anxiety, arguing that a sense of control enables individuals to cope with disasters effectively.
They also recommend various practical aspects including water, food storage, security and mental wellness, and urge people to custom-build their survival kits, taking into account their specific situations. They advocate for community-level preparation (AKA knowing your neighbors), incorporating knowledge-sharing and developing interpersonal relationships.
The discussion also stresses the role of sustainability and self-sufficiency in disaster preparedness, especially in the context of climate change.
Tune in to get primed to think about disaster response in a climate context!
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Survive and Thrive: How to Prepare for Any Disaster Without Ammo, Camo, or Eating Your Neighbor by Jeanne Chilton Devon & Bill Fulton
The Blood of Patriots: How I Took Down an Anti-Government Militia with Beer, Bounty Hunting, and Badassery by Jeanne Chilton Devon & Bill Fulton
Homestead Survival: An Insider's Guide to Your Great Escape by Marty Raney
The episode of Reversing Climate Change where we discuss insurance, how to choose a physical location for your dwelling, which parts of the country to live in, etc.: "Climate Prepping: How Should Your Family Adapt?—w/ David Pogue, author of How to Prepare for Climate Change"
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/308-surviving-and-thriving-in-a-disaster-055
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
Is there a tectonic shift away from corporate offsetting and into corporate insetting?
In this episode of Reversing Climate Change, we sat down with Lia Nicholson, Head of Sustainability at Terrascope, to discuss the sexiest topic of all—carbon accounting.
Historically, corporations faced justified criticism for opting to buy low-quality carbon offsets instead of making tangible efforts to reduce their own emissions. Lia highlights a significant recent shift from traditional offsetting to insetting, where companies account for carbon-negative behavior within their value chain rather than outsourcing it to a service provider.
As corporations worldwide scramble to mitigate their carbon footprints, understanding how emissions are calculated and reduced becomes paramount. But how should accounting of emissions be structured?
Lia lays out how in a typical company, some 85% of emissions can come from the company’s value chain. Discover how reducing scope 3 emissions is about leverage and influence. As Lia puts it, “the point of corporate accounting is not to add up all the company’s emissions; it’s really to look at where that company has influence on those emissions.
Tune in to explore insights into the standards bodies that corporate accountants refer to, the implications of the new EU carbon border adjustment tax, and how the winds of opportunity, born from disasters, can be harnessed to drive real environmental change.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/307-the-rise-of-corporate-insettingw-024
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
What's the hallway buzz about carbon removal in Dubai? Is carbon removal a fringe topic or top of mind for attendees? And what's it mean for major climate events to happen in petrostates? Who's ready for Baku, 2024?!
It’s COP28, the 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the international gathering at which member nations converge to outline their ambitions and responsibilities in regards to climate change.
Reversing Climate Change host Ross Kenyon spoke with Tito Jankowski, CEO of Airminers, who was literally in Dubai while recording. Tito shared a firsthand account of what it is like being on the ground at this controversial COP chatting about climate action and carbon removal.
Tito finds that the critical question he keeps coming back to is “Do you think carbon removal is necessary for a sustainable climate?”If the answer to that is no, where do you go from there? Every nine days we put another billion tonnes of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Ross and Tito talk about temperature control as a possible reframe (and its possible geoengineering connotations and whether that matters), the cultural landscape of the UAE, and whether next year's COP in Azerbaijan gives OPEC nations a stake in fossil fuel phaseout or enables delay.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/306-carbon-removal-boots-on-the-cop28-8b9
Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack: https://www.rosskenyon.com/subscribe
Books from the show, at Bookshop: https://bookshop.org/shop/reversing-climate-change
My other show, Climate Workers Anonymous: https://www.climateworkersanonymous.com
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