Glance at the Texas prairie, and all you see is grass and weeds. Look again, and you begin to appreciate the opportunity it holds for all of us: New income streams from carbon storage for ranchers and a slow-down in global warming for the rest of us. It's win-win all around, courtesy of the circular economy.

To find out how it works, I spoke with environmental lawyer Jim Blackburn of Rice University's Baker Institute. He describes the risks we currently face, the new economic model that may help us, and the central role the Texas prairie plays in all of this.