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
If you don’t have access to public transportation or you’re looking for a climate-friendly alternative to Uber, then you may have considered renting one of Revel’s electric mopeds. But do micromobility companies like this actually make money? And how should micromobility fit into the larger ecosystem of getting from point A to point B?
Kate Knibbs is a Senior Writer at WIRED and the author of ‘Freedom, Mayhem, and the Uncertain Future of Revel’s Mopeds.’ On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Kate joins Ross and guest host Radhika Moolgavkar, Head of Supply and Methodology at Nori, to discuss micromobility, describing how mopeds and e-bikes should be a complement to mass transit—not the dominant form of getting around.
She offers insight on the potential profitability of a company like Revel, explaining how positioning itself as an electric vehicle company increases its chances of success and why safety issues are its greatest existential threat. Listen in to understand the role of subsidies in making micromobility ventures work and learn how Kate thinks about when to choose public transit, train travel, auto ownership, rideshare, or micromobility options.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
‘Freedom, Mayhem, and the Future of Revel’s Mopeds’ in WIRED
‘Farewell, Millennial Lifestyle Subsidy’ in The New York Times
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/freedom-mayhem-and-the-uncertain-661
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
Are you missing the experience of eating out at a restaurant? Or maybe you’re itching to travel and revisit the food traditions of the places you love? What if you could recreate these experiences at home, using simple recipes to embark on a culinary journey around the world?
Renee Erickson is the James Beard Award-winning chef behind several popular Seattle restaurants including The Walrus and the Carpenter, The Whale Wins, and Bateau. She is also the author of the critically-acclaimed cookbook A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus: Menus and Stories. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Renee joins Ross and Radhika to discuss her latest release, Getaway: Food and Drink to Transport You, sharing what inspired her to design a cookbook around her favorite places.
Renee weighs in on why eating locally and seasonally is not just better for the climate but better for us, explaining her decisions-making around what fish to buy for her restaurants and how to avoid wasting beef. Listen in for Renee’s insight on making good food more accessible and get her top recommendations on places to eat out in Seattle as the world reopens post-pandemic!
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Getaway: Food & Drink to Transport You by Renee Erickson
A Boat, a Whale & a Walrus: Menus and Stories by Renee Erickson
Six Seasons: A New Way with Vegetables by Joshua McFadden
‘Three Seattle Chefs on the Challenges of Opening a Restaurant in 2020’ in Crosscut
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e73-the-challenges-of-being-a-chefrestauranteu-778
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
Data in the music industry is incredibly fragmented. There is no one consistent place to go for information about a work. It’s hard to know where songs are being played or who was involved in creating a piece of music. And this means that a lot of artists don’t get royalties for their work.
What if blockchain technology is the answer?
Imogen Heap is the Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter and record producer behind The Creative Passport, an identity management platform for music makers that runs on the blockchain. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Imogen joins Ross, Paul, and Evangeline to explain how the music industry’s challenges around crediting and payment inspired her interest in the blockchain space.
She weighs in on why she launched a collection of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to raise funds for The Creative Passport and how she devoted a portion of the proceeds to Nori to offset the carbon emissions associated with minting those NFTs. Listen in for Imogen’s vision of a more diverse commercial music industry where artists are empowered to host their own data and share it with others on the blockchain.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Vinay Gupta’s Hexayurt Project
Paul’s Post on Removing Carbon Emissions from NFTs
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e72-nfts-carbon-removal-and-the-a94
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
Big-ticket investments in carbon removal innovation are newsworthy, but perhaps nothing captures the public imagination quite like a cash prize. And the $100M purse associated with XPRIZE Carbon Removal happens to be the largest in history. So, how does an award of this magnitude translate to meaningful climate solutions?
Dr. Marcius Extavour is the Vice President of Energy and Climate at XPRIZE, a nonprofit using large-scale global competitions to crowdsource solutions to the world’s greatest challenges. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Dr. Extavour joins Ross to discuss XPRIZE Carbon Removal, explaining how Elon Musk got involved in funding the $100M prize purse and what it takes to win the $50M grand prize.
He describes how winning an XPRIZE gives a project momentum, offering insight on how the prize model complements traditional investments and sharing historic examples of awards that led to technological breakthroughs. Listen in for Dr. Extavour’s call to maintain a collaborative spirit in the carbon removal space as it evolves and find out how you can get involved in XPRIZE Carbon Removal.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
XPRIZE Carbon Removal Overview
XPRIZE Carbon Removal Guidelines
Email carbonremoval@xprize.org
Dr. Extavour’s Keynote at the 2021 AirMiners Conference
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e71-elon-musks-carbon-removal-xprizew-097
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
Should we genetically engineer carbon-hungry trees? Can metal-eating trees clean up abandoned mines? Does seaweed have the potential to save the planet? While these ideas might seem outlandish, they are all examples of actual solutions to our environmental issues people are working on right now.
Teresa Carey is a senior staff writer at Freethink, a platform that features the passionate innovators working to solve humanity’s greatest challenges. Prior to becoming a journalist, Teresa was a professional mariner and USCG licensed captain. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Teresa joins Ross to discuss the outside-the-box solutions to climate change she has written about, sharing her particular interest in covering the environment, genetics, climate technology, and carbon removal.
She explains how innovators are genetically engineering trees to suck more CO2 out of the atmosphere, offering her take on the debate around GMOs and the impact hybrid breeding might have on local ecosystems. Listen in for Teresa’s insight on the potential dangers of consumer genetic tests and find out what she learned about the process of sequestering carbon in seaweed to generate carbon offsets.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
John Kretschmer on Reversing Climate Change S2EP33
‘Metal Eating Trees Could Clean Up Abandoned Mines’ in Freethink
‘A Seaweed Diet Could Eliminate Most of Cows’ Greenhouse Emissions’ in Freethink
‘Can Seaweed Save the Planet?’ in Freethink
‘Autonomous Trash-Eating Boats Clean Up Water Pollution’ in Freethink
Project Vesta on Reversing Climate Change S2EP23
Dr. Greg Dipple on Reversing Climate Change EP009
‘Should We Genetically Engineer Carbon-Hungry Trees?’ in Freethink
Paul Greenberg on Reversing Climate Change S2EP61
The Salk Institute’s Harnessing Plants Initiative
‘This Spit Test Will Help Couples Know Their Baby’s Risk of Genetic Disease’ in Freethink
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e70-what-scares-a-wizardw-teresa-350
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 large, established companies to be sustainable long term, they need to consider how a changing climate will impact what they do. CEOs have got to ask how their businesses can be resilient in the face of climate change and what they can do to help mitigate it.
Nicole Systrom is the Founder of Sutro Energy Group, a consultancy working to scale high-impact climate solutions. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Nicole joins guest host Alexsandra Guerra to discuss her recent World Economic Forum article, ‘3 Ways CEOs Can Tackle Climate Change and Build a Net-Zero Economy.’
She explains why large, established companies should lend their political capital to climate tech startups and makes the case that every business should make net-zero a part of their business strategy. Listen in for Nicole’s insight on giving innovators a voice in policy creation and learn how large corporations, legislators and climate tech startups can work together to build a net-zero economy.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
‘3 Ways CEOs Can Tackle Climate Change and Build a Net-Zero Economy’ by Nicole Systrom
Microsoft’s Climate Innovation Fund
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/why-ceos-should-support-climatetech-97a
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
60% of the calories in our food supply are alleged to be ultra-processed junk. So, when did we lose our way? When did we go from growing food to feed our communities to growing food for profit? And how do we find our way back to a just food system—and society?
Mark Bittman is a former New York Times columnist and bestselling author of 30-plus books, including the well-known How to Cook Everything series. His new release is called Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Mark joins Ross and Radkhika to explain how the food system shaped our history and vice versa, describing how the Enclosure Movement may have turned food into a profit-making political tool and created the health crisis we’re facing.
He weighs in on why educating kids about good food is the first step in creating a just food system and advocates for subsidies to support getting good food to more people. Listen in for Mark’s perspective on investing federal dollars in regenerative agriculture and learn how he thinks about making the phrase ‘land reform’ common in our political discourse.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Subscribe to The Bittman Project Newsletter
Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable to Suicidal by Mark Bittman
How to Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food by Mark Bittman
Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal by Eric Schlosser
Renewable Fuel Standard Program
Joel Salatin at Polyface Farms
The Omnivore’s Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals by Michael Pollan
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e69-mark-bittman-on-the-political-bc9
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
Since its founding in 2003, Newlight Technologies’ goal has been to create consumer-driven solutions to reducing carbon in the air. And while that intention has not changed, the Newlight team’s approach has evolved as they consider how to achieve the greatest impact.
Mark Herrema is the cofounder and CEO of Newlight, an advanced biotechnology company using greenhouse gas to produce sustainable materials and replacements for plastic. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Mark joins Ross and cohost Radkhika Moolgavkar, Head of Supply and Methodology at Nori, to discuss what Newlight has been up to since his last appearance on the podcast, explaining how they brought a new plant online in 2019 and why the team chose foodware and fashion as its first two consumer foci.
Mark shares an overview of the AirCarbon production process, addressing where Newlight’s greenhouse gas feedstocks come from and how Newlight uses the blockchain to track the carbon footprint of its products. Listen in to understand how Mark’s thinking around carbon markets has shifted, why it took two years to get Newlight’s methodology approved, and what marketplaces need to change to make the space more attractive to other ambitious entrepreneurs.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Mark Herrema on Reversing Climate Change S1E14
Newlight’s Methodology for Greenhouse Gas Capture and Utilization in Plastic Materials
ISO 14067 Carbon Footprint of Products
ISO 14044 Life Cycle Assessment
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/replacing-plastic-with-captured-carbon-cde
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
Since the first levee was built in New Orleans in 1717, we have been trying to manage America’s rivers. But now our infrastructure is failing. And if we don’t compromise on a plan to restore (or strategically remove) our dams, levees, and locks and give our waterways more space, flooding events will continue to devastate entire communities over and over again.
Tyler J. Kelley is a journalist whose work has appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The New Yorker, among many other national publications. His first book, Holding Back the River: The Struggle Against Nature on America’s Waterways, was published in April 2021. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Tyler joins Ross to explain why riverboat traffic is still important to the US economy, moving more than 1,000 semi-trucks’ worth of vital commodities daily.
Tyler discusses the extensive work we’ve done to manage rivers in the US, describing how much land would be unlivable without levees and why the risks of flooding will only increase with climate change. Listen in for Tyler’s insight on the Dutch Delta Works project to give land back to the rivers and fortify existing infrastructure and learn how we might create a similar comprehensive flood control plan to protect communities here in the US.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Holding Back the River: The Struggle Against Nature on America’s Waterways by Tyler J. Kelley
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2ep68-what-would-happen-if-our-rivers-dd5
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 would happen if businesses were expected or even required to store a tonne of carbon for every tonne of carbon they produce? A Carbon Takeback Obligation is a policy framework that aims to make that the new standard. Today we learn more about how such a system might operate.
Margriet Kuijper is a former civil engineer for Shell, where she focused on the development of carbon capture and storage projects. Today, she serves as an independent consultant working on a Carbon Takeback Obligation, otherwise known as CTBO. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Margriet joins Ross to share the simple idea behind a Carbon Takeback Obligation and explain how it addresses the common concerns associated with oil and gas carbon capture projects.
Margriet discusses how CTBO makes polluters pay to clean up their emissions and describes how CTBO policy could work in tandem with a carbon tax or emissions trading system, incentivizing both emitters and producers to find solutions together. Listen in to understand Margriet’s take on the role of offsets under CTBO and in a net-zero world, and learn how businesses would benefit from the long-term policy certainty of a Carbon Takeback Obligation.
Connect with Nori
Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom
Resources
Eli Mitchell-Larson on Reversing Climate Change S2EP62
Europe’s Extended Producer Responsibility Policy
Making Climate Policy Work by Danny Cullenward and David G. Victor
Resources
This episode's page on the web: https://www.rosskenyon.com/p/s2e67-the-carbon-takeback-obligation-336
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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