Additionality is typically considered a major marker of quality in carbon removal. But what do we do when carbon removal suppliers are producing other types of products and services that make them less dependent upon voluntary carbon market revenue?

Perhaps even more importantly, how do we have a productive disagreement on this topic? Bringing up some concerns can open one to criticism. But we also depend upon people thinking differently in order to advance our understanding of the world and the types of value we create. How do we make sure we aren't encouraging crackpot analysis while also not hewing so closely to orthodoxy that we might be missing important insights? How can we set the stage to understand the true landscape of disagreement so that we can come to better decisions and not be driven by ideology in improper ways?

Today's podcast features Reversing Climate Change alumnus, Grant Faber, returning to the show. Grant is sui generis in our sector for his deep involvement in life-cycle and techno-economic assessment. He is the Direct Air Capture Hubs Program Manager at the U.S. Department of Energy. Prior to DOE, he ran a consultancy focused on life cycle and techno-economic assessment where he worked with many different startups, accelerators, and investors working on carbon removal and carbon conversion. Before that, he worked with Twelve, Heirloom, and the Global CO2 Initiative.

Importantly, we invite you to engage with this material and come to your own conclusions. Part of what makes carbon removal such an intellectual adventure is just how much room there is for creativity and deep thought!

Resources

Grant's website

Grant's previous RCC appearance

Eric Matzner from Metalplant's RCC appearance

"Crediting challenges when carbon removal comes with avoided emissions" by CarbonPlan

The trope of the monkey paw

A few Robert Höglund pieces on temporary carbon removal: #1, #2, and #3

Here's the quote from Gandalf from J.R.R. Tolkien's The Return of the King:

"It is not our part to master all the tides of the world, but to do what is in us for the succour of those years wherein we are set, uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so that those who live after may have clean earth to till. What weather they shall have is not ours to rule."

Of all of the world's climate podcasts, here is why you should, with your one wild and precious life, listen to Reversing Climate Change.

The tl;dr is I am a long-time carbon removal and climate tech entrepreneur who comes from the humanities (rather than science) and I am programming shows on climate unlike what you're likely to hear elsewhere. Shows with legendary travel writers to worlds that are disappearing? A Vietnam veteran discussing what Jungian archetypes can teach those thinking of their climate activism as a type of warfare? Survivalism in the age of climate change? What might Dante make of our current predicament?! This show's got it!

If you like the show, would you please become a subscriber here? It makes a huge difference to the show's sustainability. And if you aren't able to do that, would you please give the show a great rating and/or review on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or whichever podcast app you use that has that ability?

Thank you so much for listening! Please let me know in the comments if you would like anything in particular.

This is a video excerpt from episode 332 with Clayton Aldern, Senior Data Reporter at Grist and author of The Weight of Nature: How a Changing Climate Changes Our Brains.

In this video clip, we discuss how we hold people accountable when the heat has a statistically relevant negative impact on decision-making, impulsivity, etc. If we are so embodied as to predictably make worse conditions under stress, what does that mean for a world that will likely encounter more stress as a result of climate change? At what point should we focus less on responsibility, blame, and agency and begin to focus more on background conditions and our physical natures? Or is this even the right question?

Tune in now to learn more, and listen to the rest of the show on audio wherever you listen to podcasts.