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.
Paid subscriptions live on Substack @ https://rosskenyon.com.
© Carbon Removal Strategies LLC
Copyright: © Nori
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 the curve when it comes to carbon removal.
They share the resistance they face when it comes to endorsing carbon offsets and explain how local governments can educate communities around carbon removal.
Listen in to understand why the Four Corners model focuses on funding carbon removal projects that can be replicated and learn how Susie, Ramón, and Chris support other jurisdictions in finding local applications of CDR.
Connect with Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Four Corners Carbon Removal Coalition
Boulder County Office of Sustainability, Climate Action and Resilience
Flagstaff Sustainability Office
‘Local Governments Can Drive Carbon Dioxide Removal Innovation’
Flagstaff Climate Emergency Declaration
Carbon Offsets: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver
The Oxford Offsetting Principles
Boulder County Climate Innovation Fund
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/carbon-removal-in-local-government-0ac
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
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
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Ross’ Crow Story on Reversing Climate Change Happy Hour
Top Lid Up Draft Biochar Machine on YouTube
Charles Dowding’s Charcoal Video
Josiah Hunt at Pacific Biochar
Exeter Biochar Retort Industrial Kiln
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s3e25-make-your-own-biocharw-lottie-079
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
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
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
Quit: The Power of Knowing When to Walk Away by Annie Duke
How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices by Annie Duke
Thinking in Bets: Making Smarter Decisions When You Don’t Have All the Facts by Annie Duke
Superforecasting: The Art and Science of Prediction by Philip E. Tetlock and Dan Gardner
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s3e24-when-to-quit-your-climate-startupw-729
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
Communicating the science behind climate change is a challenge.
But when you present these concepts in an artistic way and make the data beautiful, it’s more engaging and easier to understand. And more likely to inspire climate action.
Nicole Kelner is Artist-in-Residence at My Climate Journey, where she communicates the complex challenges of climate change in a beautiful, accessible way.
On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Nicole joins Ross, Siobhan, and Asa to explore why people are drawn to her watercolor representations of scientific data and explain her efforts to communicate climate concepts accurately.
Nicole describes how she incorporates humor in her artwork and brainstorms ideas for a potential collaboration with the Nori Meme Lab.
Listen in to understand how Nicole thinks about AI-generated art and learn how her work makes a meaningful difference in the fight against climate change.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
‘Seaweed Ecosystems May Not Mitigate CO2 Emissions’ in ICES Journal of Marine Science
‘Colors of Climate: Nicole Kelner’s Watercolors Bring Calm to Images of Climate Change’ in The Verge
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/climate-art-can-be-a-beautiful-thingw-ddf
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
Nori lives at the intersection of climate and crypto, attempting to build a global commodities market for carbon removal on the blockchain.
And while we’ve discussed carbon removal at length on the podcast, we’ve spent less time exploring how one might use crypto to determine a reference price for carbon.
So, what does Nori look like under the hood? How can we use the blockchain as a tool to get the world’s atmospheric carbon balance back to 300 parts per million?
Chris Burniske is Partner at Placeholder VC, a venture capital firm that invests in decentralized networks and Web3 services, including Filecoin, Polkadot, and Nori.
On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Chris joins Ross and Nori CEO Paul Gambill to explain what differentiates our market-based system for valuing CO2 from other climatetech projects.
Chris and Paul discuss the potential to build a world of complex financial instruments around Nori and describe what market mechanisms one might use to create depth around the pricing of carbon-backed assets.
Listen in to understand how Nori might evolve to become a DAO and learn what distinguishes our approach from companies making advanced market commitments to carbon removal.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
‘Isomorphism in DAO Governance’ by Mario Laul
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s3e23-can-you-price-carbon-with-cryptow-e19
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
Reforestation (and afforestation) projects can take carbon out of the atmosphere. And yet, in our current system, sometimes only the largest, most well-connected projects can afford the verification process.
But what if there was a way to maintain the integrity of the MRV (Measurement, Reporting, and Verification) process, while making it accessible to anyone who wants to plant trees?
Jeremy Epstein is Head of Growth at Open Forest Protocol, a Web3 platform working to transparently measure, verify, and fund forestation projects.
On this CDR Happy Hour bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Jeremy joins Ross and Siobhan to share his definition of regenerative finance and discuss the benefits of putting carbon markets on the blockchain.
Jeremy explains what differentiates OFP from other ReFi projects and explores whether or not derivatives can be good for carbon removal.
Listen in for insight on balancing accuracy with accessibility in carbon markets and learn how to help OFP build the future of distributed MRV.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
John Oliver’s Piece on Carbon Offsets
The Network State: How to Start a Country by Balaji Srinivasan
Reminiscences of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre
Siobhan’s TikTok on Photosynthesis
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/refi-forestry-and-distributed-mrvw-293
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
As a nascent industry, carbon dioxide removal is often misunderstood by the general public.
And that makes CDR humor very niche. Maybe only 5% of people will understand it, but those who do really, really appreciate it.
Just go to a Halloween party dressed as the Climeworks stock photo, and you’ll see what we mean.
Jack Andreasen serves as Manager of Carbon Management in US Policy and Advocacy at Breakthrough Energy, an organization committed to scaling the technologies we need to reach net-zero emissions by 2050. He is also a prolific writer of memes in the CDR space.
On this edition of the Reversing Climate Change CDR Happy Hour, Nori Meme Lab colleagues Ross and Siobhan sit down with Jack to discuss what drew him to carbon dioxide removal and describe his role in ‘carbon middle management’ at Breakthrough.
Jack shares his frustration with having to defend CDR in conversations with people outside the space, explaining how he thinks about the criticisms of direct air capture and the misinformation perpetuated by the mainstream media.
Listen in to understand the range of opinions around the visual aesthetic of solar or wind farms versus DAC machines and get ideas for creating your very own meme-inspired CDR Halloween costume!
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
‘Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Nancy Pelosi Leads Gazpacho Police’ in The Washington Post
Jason Hochman on Reversing Climate Change S3EP20
John Oliver’s Piece on Carbon Offsets
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/is-the-dac-stock-image-a-good-halloween-35e
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
Do you wish your career was a little more gratifying? That it gave you the chance to work on something you really care about?
You don't need a science or engineering background to pursue a career in climate solutions. In fact, a variety of skill sets translate to climate work.
So, how do you get into the carbon removal space? Where can you go for resources and networking opportunities?
On this edition of the Reversing Climate Change CDR Happy Hour, Nori Meme Lab colleagues Asa Kamer and Siobhan Montoya Lavendar discuss their journey to a career in carbon removal, describing the college and early work experiences that inspired their work in the climate space.
Siobhan and Asa share the top resources for people interested in carbon removal and encourage us to check out the AirMiners community and OpenAir Collective for networking and volunteer opportunities.
Listen in for insight on who to follow for job openings in climate solutions and learn how to go about pursuing a career in the rapidly changing field of carbon removal.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Resources
California Wilderness Coalition
Pitzer College Ontario Program
Na’im Merchant’s Blog Carbon Curve
Siobhan Montoya Lavendar on TikTok
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/how-to-pursue-a-career-in-carbon-ad0
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
On August 16, 2022, the Inflation Reduction Act was signed into law. Whatever you might think about, this legislation is certainly the biggest step forward in climate action in our lifetimes.
But that’s not the only thing we have to talk about in the Nori Carbon Removal Meme Lab this week!
On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Ross sits down with fellow memeologists, Siobhan Montoya Lavender and Asa Kamer, to revel in having our Lion King Meme featured on Zeke Hausfather’s Twitter response to a New York Times opinion piece against carbon capture and storage or CCS.
Ross, Siobhan, and Asa also discuss why academics in the carbon removal space have a growing bias toward high durability and high permanence, yet capital is flowing into natural climate solutions.
Listen in to understand the challenges around tonne-year carbon accounting and learn about public reaction to the Inflation Reduction Act and how it finances clean energy.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Resources
Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram
‘Every Dollar Spent on This Climate Technology Is a Waste’ in The New York Times
John Daly Smoking Next to Tiger Woods Meme Template
Dr. Julio Friedmann on Reversing Climate Change EP016
Tonne-Year Accounting on Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/the-inflation-reduction-act-and-its-029
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
For climate startups to find customers, attract talent, and secure funding, they need to communicate their value effectively.
But how do you deliver content that explains complex ideas in an accessible way? How do you synthesize information to appeal to a variety of audiences?
Nick Van Osdol is a writer on the Nori team, the creator of the Keep Cool newsletter, and host of The Keep Cool Show, a podcast that gives promising climate tech startups an opportunity to pitch investors.
On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Nick joins Ross to explain why communications is an undervalued sector within the climate space and discuss his work on the forthcoming updated version of the Nori white paper.
Nick shares his interest in how the Inflation Reduction Act’s $370B for climate action will be deployed and describes the challenge of scaling supply to accommodate Advanced Market Commitments to buy carbon credits.
Listen in for Nick’s take on pragmatism versus idealism in the climate space and learn how a talented content creator thinks about the geopolitical implications of scaling renewable energy.
Connect with Nori
Join Nori's Discord to hang out with other fans of the podcast and Nori
Resources
Nori Whitepaper (this is the old version but we will update with the new version when it is published)
The Network State by Balaji Srinivasan
Stanford 100% Renewables Study
The End of the World Is Just the Beginning by Peter Zeihan
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s3e22-keep-cool-and-cover-climatetechw-403
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
Our TOPPODCAST Picks 
