Reversing Climate Change

Young people on BOTH sides of the aisle want to see action on climate change. And Quillan Robinson believes that the will for action is a more powerful force than the disagreements we may have over policy. So, how does a conservative approach like the American Climate Contract differ from the progressive Green New Deal? And how do the principles of conservatism inform right-of-center climate solut...

The political process is complex and difficult to follow, no matter how deeply we care about climate policy. And yet, without federal clean electricity standards, energy companies are unlikely to change their behavior. So, what does good environmental policy look like? And what can we do as individuals to advocate for laws that reverse climate change? Dr. Leah C. Stokes is an Assistant Professor i...

Concrete is an incredibly useful and highly resilient building material. And with population growth and urbanization, we are on pace to double everything we’ve ever built in the next 40 years. At the same time, concrete production accounts for as much as 8% of global emissions. So, how can we continue to reap the benefits of concrete in a way that complies with our climate goals? Robert Niven is t...

Emily Atkin's June 1st issue of HEATED caught our attention with the headline "The climate movement's silence" regarding the Black Lives Matter protests taking place all over the United States and the lack of a substantial response from climate organizations. One of the long-running debates that shows up on the podcast is "to what degree should climate change policy be focused exclusively on decar...

What is the best approach to solving the climate crisis? Should we leverage science and technology to ‘produce’ our way out of the problem? Or aspire to live in Hobbiton and radically reduce our human footprint? Charles C. Mann is the New York Times bestselling author behind 1491 , 1493 and The Wizard and the Prophet and a regular correspondent for The Atlantic , WIRED and Science Magazine . Today...

Dr. Elizabeth Segran is a Senior Staff Writer at Fast Company. Today, Liz joins Ross and guest host Lorraine Smith to discuss how fashion works, explaining how the industry has evolved over the last 150 years to a system in which clothes are disposable. She explores the environmental cost of fast fashion, describing the dangers of using synthetic material and the tremendous waste associated with p...

Evan Hynes is the founder of Climate. Careers, a job site dedicated to helping talented jobseekers find high-impact, high-paying jobs at organizations working to address climate change. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Evan joins Ross to discuss why he built the Climate. Careers platform, explain what qualifies a job to be listed on the site, and how a listener might be able to l...

Koen van Seijen is the host of the Investing in Regenerative Agriculture Podcast, where he talks to pioneers in the regenerative food and agriculture space about putting money to work to regenerate the soil. Today, Koen joins Ross and Christophe to discuss the many different flavors of financing for regenerative agriculture and explain the distinction between investing in regenerative agriculture...

Kate Knibbs is a Senior Writer at WIRED covering culture, and is the author of ‘The Hottest New Literary Genre is Doomer Lit.’ Today, Kate joins Ross to explain what inspired her conception of the new (sub)genre, discussing what differentiates doomer lit from cli-fi and how Jenny Offill’s new novel Weather functions as a mood piece on climate change.

Phoebe Yu and Kat Dey are the cofounders of ettitude, a sustainable lifestyle brand that uses CleanBamboo fabric to produce bedding, bath, and sleepwear. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, they join Ross to walk us through the process ettitude uses to turn bamboo into fabric, sharing the benefits of using bamboo as a raw material in terms of carbon capture and storage.

John Elkington is an internationally recognized authority on corporate responsibility and sustainable development, bestselling author, and serial entrepreneur. He currently serves as Chief Pollinator at Volans, a future-focused business working at the intersection of the sustainability, entrepreneurship, and innovation movements. Today, John joins Ross and Paul to discuss his most recent book, Gre...

Dr. David Grinspoon is the author of Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet’s Future. He is also part of the team working with NASA on a proposed mission to Venus! On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, David is back on the show with Ross to discuss the basic units of the geological time scale and explain why he proposes calling this new time marked by human impact and self-awareness...

Julia Pyper and Shane Skelton are two of the three cohosts of Political Climate, a bipartisan podcast on energy and environmental politics in America. Today, Julia and Shane join Ross to discuss how their show is working to normalize the conversation on climate change (on both sides of the aisle) and explore what’s behind the increasing polarization in DC and what role the media plays in perpetuat...

J. Maarten Troost is the travel writer behind such titles as The Sex Lives of Cannibals, Getting Stoned with Savages and Headhunters on My Doorstep. He spent multiple years in Kiribati in the Equatorial Pacific as well as Fiji and Vanuatu. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change, Maarten joins Ross to explain how he came to spend time in the region of Oceania and offer insight around the p...

Ethan Soloviev is the coauthor of Regenerative Enterprise and Levels of Regenerative Agriculture and co-owner of High Falls Farm,  a multi-enterprise farm in the Hudson Valley of New York that aims toward regenerative principles and practices. On this bonus episode, Ethan joins Ross to introduce us to the Jewish idea of shmita, as well as his attempts to learn from Irish/Celtic and indigenous Nort...

Dr. Lauren Gifford is a critical geographer exploring the intersections of global climate policy, conservation, markets, and justice. She is also the host of Carbon Social Club and the author of a recent paper entitled “‘You Can’t Value What You Can’t Measure’: A Critical Look at Forest Carbon Accounting.” On this episode, we dig into avoided deforestation credits, REDD/REDD+, and the dynamics at...

Dr. Greg Dipple is a Professor of Geology in the Department of Earth, Ocean and Atmospheric Sciences at the University of British Columbia—Vancouver,and a podcast alumnus! On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Greg joins Ross to give us an update on his research around carbon mineralization in mine tailings, reminding us how the process works and explaining why it’s not already common...

Dr. Jane Zelikova is the Chief Scientist at Carbon180, a carbon removal think tank on a mission to fundamentally rethink carbon, and cofounder of 500 Women Scientists, a nonprofit dedicated to transforming the leadership, diversity, and public engagement in science.  On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change, Jane joins Ross and Christophe to discuss the challenges of measuring the carbon co...

Maria Streshinsky is the Executive Editor of Wired, a science and technology magazine devoted to exploring technology’s potential to shape the world for the better. On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Maria joins Ross to discuss the forthcoming issue of Wired, walking us through its sections on carbon capture, food and land, transportation and renewable energy.

Dr. Roger Aines is the Chief Scientist of the Energy Program at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and coauthor of the LLNL report Getting to Neutral: Options for Negative Carbon Emissions in California. On this episode of the Reversing Climate Change, Roger joins Ross and Christophe to discuss how the California study came about and walk us through the three carbon removal strategies outlined...

Sophia Rokhlin is the coauthor of When Plants Dream: Ayahuasca, Amazonian Shamanism and the Global Psychedelic Renaissance. She also serves as the director of the sustainable ayahuasca cultivation program at the Temple of the Way of Light, a traditional plant medicine retreat center in the Peruvian Amazon. This episode Sophia joins Ross and Alexsandra to introduce us to the traditions of shamanism...

Nathaniel Rich is a writer-at-large for The New York Times Magazine and the author of three novels. His nonfiction book, Losing Earth: A Recent History, is an account of the 10-year period from 1979 to 1989 when we ‘almost stopped climate change.’ On this episode of the podcast, Nathaniel joins Ross to give us an overview of the story behind the book, explaining how climate change was a bipartisan...

David Roberts is a staff writer for Vox, and his work focuses on energy, politics and climate change. On this episode of the podcast, David joins Ross and Aldyen to share his take on the disappearance of the center-right as a faction of the Republican Party and discuss the role social trust plays in the health of a society. Aldyen introduces the idea of a common goal as key to the survival of an e...

Daniel Palken is a Conservative Outreach Fellow for Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL), an organization working to build support in Congress for a national bipartisan solution to climate change.  On this bonus episode of Reversing Climate Change, Daniel joins Ross to explain what drew him to work with the organization and discuss their recent Conservative Climate Lobby Day for climate advocates right o...

Dr. Bryan Caplan is a Professor of Economics at George Mason University and New York Times Bestselling author. His most recent release is a collaboration with Zach Weinersmith called Open Borders: The Science and Ethics of Immigration. On this episode of Reversing Climate Change, Bryan joins Ross and Paul to discuss the thesis of his new nonfiction graphic novel and explain his view that open bord...