Reversing Climate Change
Focused on people & organizations coming together to reverse climate change
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Carbon removal is often conceived of as only separating greenhouse gases from ambient air. But what if it also creates other valuable products in the process? Should they still be selling carbon credits? Does this competition make it harder for carbon removal companies that can't produce additional value streams? What are the trade-offs here, and is financial additionality the right place to intervene if intervention is even necessary? In this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon interviews Eric Matzner, an alumnus of Carbon Removal Newsroom and Cofounder of Project Vesta who has a new venture leaving stealth mode called Metalplant. This is Metalplant's podcast debut! This innovative project combines hyperaccumulator plants and enhanced rock weathering to extract nickel from soil and crushed rock while removing carbon from the air. Eric discusses the economics of co-producing nickel and carbon offsets, addressing the challenges of carbon removal scale-up, and his views on the importance of vertical integration in ensuring quality and cost control. The episode delves into Metalplant's initial operations in Albania, leveraging the country's rich olivine resources on non-arable land, and generating local employment. Much of the conversation focuses on a possibly looming intellectual crisis in carbon removal: what does the industry do when it realizes that many of its methodologies are co-producing value besides carbon? Will it try to find a way to square that with conventional applications of financial additionality, or will they abandon or amend additionality to make sure co-producers aren't held down while the world desperately needs them to scale their operations? So much to talk about, and there will almost certainly be more on this topic in the future! Resources Metalplant's website Eric Matzner's website Eric Matzner on Carbon Removal Newsroom back in 2019: "Project Vesta for olivine drawdown leaves stealth mode" Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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Why does death exist? Does getting older always mean getting wiser? Should we look to experience or youth for breakthroughs? In today's episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon is joined by Dr. Venki Ramakrishnan, a 2009 Nobel Laureate in chemistry and author of the new book, Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality . Despite growing lifespans, it isn't clear that we have become less avaricious or kinder as a species, at least to the extent that may be desired. Would that change if we had radically longer lives? Is that even likely at this point? Venki challenges much of the discourse around anti-aging, immortality, trends made fun of in Silicon Valley like blood boys, consciousness uploads, and much else. And of course, they discuss if and how this will impact the world's attempts to grapple with climate change. Resources Why We Die: The New Science of Aging and the Quest for Immortality Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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319: How Nori Rebranded: A Case Study—w/ Heidi Sloane, Nori's Senior Marketing Manager
How should a climatetech company think about its brand? What if it's B2B? What if it needs to be both trustworthy and idiosyncratic at the same time?! In today's episode of Reversing Climate Change , Nori Cofounder, Ross Kenyon, is joined by his colleague, Heidi Sloane, Nori's Senior Marketing Manager. Heidi led Nori's recent rebrand, which took it from a more playful B2C feel to something more sturdy and B2B. We used the agency Odi to help us with it. Great job, Odi! Heidi explains how a brand can retain its personality and uniqueness while also communicating that it is serious about what it does and can be trusted. Just because one can sometimes act like a clown, doesn't mean one needs to dress like one. If you don't believe me, ask Leslie Nielson. They also discuss how to lead stakeholder engagement in a way that minimizes conflict or typical committee dysfunction and make sure feedback is heard and synthesized without fetishizing consensus. Resources Odi Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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Seems like a new book on climate-friendly cooking is constantly being released. Do they matter, or do they unfairly place the burden of political economy and social change on the lowly consumer? What type of cooking might actually be impactful, and why? Why do we even bother cooking anyway? In today's Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori Cofounder and Director of Creative & Marketing, Ross Kenyon, is joined by Tamar Adler, a James Beard awardee and author of several books, including An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace , The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z , and Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revised. Tamar shares her unique approach to cooking which emphasizes the beauty of the endless transformation of ingredients, utilizing and elevating leftovers, and making food an enduring lifestyle rather than a collection of discrete meals. This focus on transformation, leftovers, and creatively utilizing so many of the parts we often throw away, has an obvious climate angle. But Tamar isn't convinced that's the best reason to pursue her way of cooking, and in fact, doing it for political purposes may make it hard to sustain for the same reasons that diets are hard to sustain: if it isn't joyful, it's a burden. And if it's a burden, it is so much harder to sustain. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of An Everlasting Meal , and subscribe to Tamar's new Substack, The Kitchen Shrink , where you can ask her all of the cooking questions you've kept locked in your root cellar . Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources Tamar's website An Everlasting Meal: Cooking with Economy and Grace The Everlasting Meal Cookbook: Leftovers A-Z Something Old, Something New: Classic Recipes Revised The Kitchen Shrink The Supper of the Lamb: A Culinary Reflection by Robert Farrar Capon The River Cottage Meat Book by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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Off-world settlements are sometimes proposed as an insurance policy for Earthlings. Or as an escape for the super-rich. Is it actually either of those things? How should we be considering humanity's relationship to the cosmos and off-world civilization? And is the Overview Effect worth a damn? On today's episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori carbon removal marketplace Cofounder Ross Kenyon is joined by Zach Weinersmith and Dr. Kelly Weinersmith, science educators and authors all. Zach is also the person behind the long-running internet comic SMBC (Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal ) . They are the authors of the new book, A City on Mars: Can We Settle Space, Should We Settle Space, and Have We Really Thought This Through? Zach and Kelly are both sympathetic to space exploration, being avowed geeks of the subject matter. And yet, the further they dug into basically every facet of life off-world, the less likely it seems our species is ready for the challenges. Whether it be the ease of hurling celestial objects back at Earth, the collapsing bone density of space denizens, the uncertainty of reproduction in low-gravity environments and therefore the necessity of experimenting without consent upon children, the cost, the geopolitics, the near-term impossibility of independence from Earth, and an entire book's worth of other concerns, it just doesn't seem like becoming a trans-Earth civilization is the solution or problem that its supporters or critics, respectively, have believed it is. These are all worthy areas of research. Tune in to learn more and why Zach & Kelly are still exuberant space nerds, and how to keep space in mind with regard to climate change. Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources Kelly's website Zach's website Soonish: Ten Emerging Technologies That'll Improve and/or Ruin Everything A City on Mars Mars One David Grinspoon's Earth in Human Hands David Grinspoon on Reversing Climate Change The Right Stuff Bryan Caplan on Reversing Climate Change talking about his book Open Borders , which Zach illustrated. --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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316: How Animals (and Nutrient Pumps!) Make Our World—w/ Dr. Joe Roman, author of Eat, Poop, Die
Nutrients on Earth are essential for life on Earth. But they aren't evenly distributed. How do they end up in different places, and how does that affect life on Earth? How does life even work?! In this episode of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, Nori Cofounder Ross Kenyon is joined by Dr. Joe Roman, a conservation biologist and author of Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World . An established view of how ecosystems emerge and change is through bottom-up processes, e.g. through chemistry or microorganisms. In this view, animals are often seen more as visitors passing through rather than as transformative agents themselves. Joe challenges this concept, arguing that much research has shown just how much mammals can change ecosystems, as well as carbon and nitrogen cycles! This has impacts for carbon removal, from ecosystem restoration to iron fertilization of the Southern Ocean. The conversation also explores the complex relationship humans have with predators and rewilding, and our desire to simplify our environments, often to our peril. This legibility and safety, however, can often mean ecological sterility. Ross shares his experience raising urban chickens in an environment filled with raccoons. Joe also talks about his ongoing research project on whales and the Great Whale Conveyor Belt, and his interest in studying invasive species as a source of food for humans. This is one of those episodes that touches so much about our shared world! Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources Joe Roman's website Eat, Poop, Die: How Animals Make Our World --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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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 Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources 312: Nori's collab with the Texas Climate-Smart Initiative—w/ Dr. Julie Howe, Professor of Soil Science & Project Director of TCSI 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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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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 of 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. 00:04 Introduction and Guest Background 00:42 Understanding the Shift in Political Beliefs 02:12 Defining Liberalism and its Principles 05:16 The Role of Religion in Politics 10:42 Exploring the Concept of Integralism 18:28 The Challenges to Liberalism 21:08 The Future of Liberalism and Integralism 35:01 The Unlikelihood of an Orthodox Christian State 35:29 The Possibility of Ending the Schism 35:41 The Role of the Pope in a Unified Church 37:34 The Potential Impact of a Unified Christendom 37:50 The Orthodox Church and Internal Schism 39:10 The Byzantine Rite and the Orthodox Liturgy 40:00 The Potential for Harmony in a Unified Church 40:48 The Challenges of Reunification 41:24 The Role of the Pope in a Transnational Church 46:26 The Influence of Orthodox Beliefs on Politics 46:44 The Future of Integralism 49:41 The Role of Christianity in Society 52:50 The Potential Impact of Integralism on Politics 55:54 The Importance of Diverse Perspectives 59:58 The Role of Capitalism in Caring for the Weak 01:01:03 The Synthesis of Orthodoxy and Other Philosophies 01:01:10 Conclusion: The Future of Christian Political Theology Connect with Nori Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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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 Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources Kita's website "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 --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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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 Purchase Nori Carbon Removals Nori's website Nori on Twitter Check out our other podcast, Carbon Removal Newsroom Carbon Removal Memes on Twitter Carbon Removal Memes on Instagram Resources Texas Climate-Smart Initiative Dr. Julie Howe's website --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/reversingclimatechange/support
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