Inevitable

Today’s guest is Rollie Williams, host and creator of Climate Town. 

The topic of climate change can be dark upon initial exploration. While some find inspiration in innovation and action, many folks struggle to get beyond the pervasive desperation and doomerism that dominate the conversation. Climate Town takes a totally different approach and uses humor to unpack complex climate topics while offering suggestions for how audiences can take meaningful action. In the past two years, the Climate Town YouTube channel has amassed 393,000 subscribers, several millions views, a handful of awards, and has spawned an engaged Discord community of climate-focused-yet-delightfully-regular people.

Rollie is a Brooklyn-based comedian and video editor, and he holds a graduate degree in Climate Science and Policy from Columbia University. He’s also the former creator and host of the monthly comedy show 'An Inconvenient Talk Show' doing sketches and comedic deep dives by pairing comedians (SNL, The Daily Show, The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, etc) together with climate scientists (NASA, MIT, Harvard). 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• [5:41] And overview of Climate Town and how it came to be 
• [13:32] How climate is being communicated today, its complications and direct opposition
• [18:18] Rollie's goal of making comedy videos while sharing facts and CTAs
• [22:25] Importance of taking action on the local level and where to start
• [28:20] Rollie's comedic influences 
• [35:56] The future of the Climate Town community 
• [46:41] Why context and learning helps keep people grounded

Get connected: 

• Cody's Twitter
• Climate Town TikTok
• Climate Town YouTube
• MCJ Podcast Twitter
• MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on August 10, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today’s guest is Alex Trembath, Deputy Director at the Breakthrough Institute. 

The Breakthrough Institute is a global research center that identifies and promotes technological solutions to environmental and human development challenges. Their vision is of a world that is good for both people and nature, and they believe that human prosperity and an ecologically vibrant planet are possible at the same time. They have an eco-modernist perspective and embrace technological innovation without sacrifice. 

In this episode, Jason and Alex discuss eco-modernism, the work at the Breakthrough Institute, Alex's views on the nature of the climate problem and what some environmentalists get wrong in his opinion. They also talk about potential solutions, the role of innovation, the role of policy, how urgent this challenge is and some of the best ways to address it. 

Starting on Wednesday 7th September at 9am PST / 12pm EST / 5pm BST  Alex will be joining the MCJ community in our AMA channel, answering questions asynchronously for 24 hours. Set your reminders, and get your questions ready!

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• [5:38] An overview of Breakthrough Institute and their focus on technological solutions to environmental problems 
• [7:18] Alex's climate journey and early ideological frictions with Breakthrough 
• [9:22] Origins of Breakthrough 
• [12:48] Alex's views on the right vs wrong way to think about the problem of climate change 
• [17:44] Dealing with climate anxiety 
• [25:26] Why different groups of people can look at the same data and have drastically different conclusions about the level of urgency required to address climate change 
• [28:02] GDP as a measure of human well-being 
• [31:01] Ways of decoupling emissions from economic growth 
• [33:49] Capitalism, colonialism, and mixed economies around the world 
• [39:00] Policy tools Breakthrough pursues to accelerate decarbonization 
• [43:42] Problems with net-zero pledges and voluntary offsets from big companies 
• [45:54] The role of individual behaviors and eco-modernist virtue signaling 
• [48:15] The role of government 
• [54:00] What drives Alex in his work 

Get connected: 
Jason's Twitter
Alex’s Twitter
MCJ Podcast Twitter
MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on August 8, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

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• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today’s guest is Moji Karimi, CEO and Co-Founder of Cemvita Factory. 

Cemvita Factory’s mission is to deploy nature-inspired economical technology to empower the energy transition and create a brighter future. This is done by a portfolio of industrial biotechnology solutions across Cemvita’s three verticals: CO2-based biomanufacturing, biomining, and subsurface biomanufacturing. On the surface, it sounds like the company is tackling an impossible number of initiatives for an early stage startup, but that’s part of the excitement of what's happening in synthetic biology right now. Cemvita’s de-siloed and deverticalized approach to innovation requires cross-functional expertise and problem solving. 

Moji and Cody have a great discussion about biomining for lithium and copper, subsurface biochemical production, including gold hydrogen, and biomanufacturing of waste carbon dioxide into other end products. Plus they talk about the different use cases as businesses, and Cemvita Factory's cross-disciplinary approach to innovation. Solving climate change requires new ways of thinking, and Moji’s background and work at Cemvita is an excellent example of this. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• [5:35] An overview of Cemvita Factory and the company's origin
• [8:35] How Moji transitioned from deep space exploration into working on energy 
• [10:32] Meaning of biomimicry 
• [12:28] Cemvita's go-to-market applications 
• [17:26] Use cases for biomining and issues with lithium extraction today 
• [19:27] An overview of leaching 
• [24:17] Risky byproducts associated with using microbes and biomaterials for extraction
• [27:28] An overview of subsurface biomanufacturing and gold hydrogen 
• [34:05] An overview of carbon biomanufacturing and how it can generate sustainable aviation fuel 
• [41:54] An overview of renewable natural gas
• [45:24] How Cemvita's different pathways are interconnected 
• [50:50] How Cemvita is sourcing solutions 

Get connected: 
Cody's Twitter
MCJ Podcast Twitter
MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on August 8, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Rebecca Dell, Senior Program Director, Industry at ClimateWorks Foundation.

ClimateWorks is on a mission to end the climate crisis by amplifying the power of philanthropy. Since 2008, ClimateWorks has granted over $1.3 billion to more than 600 grantees in over 50 countries. Now, Rebecca leads the industry program, which is dedicated to reducing and eliminating the one-third of greenhouse gas emissions that come from the material economy. Previously, she worked at the U.S. Department of Energy in the Obama Administration, where she coordinated implementation of President Obama's Climate Action Plan and was a lead analyst and author of the U.S. Quadrennial Energy Review. Before her federal service, Rebecca was a scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, studying the interaction between the ocean and land-based ice sheets like those in Greenland and Antarctica. 

Industries are a huge source of emissions and many people say that they are notoriously "hard to decarbonize," but this conversation with Rebecca sheds light on additional context for why that may be the case (or not). What aspects make them hard to decarbonize? How can we accelerate decarbonization and philosophically, what should we do in the meantime? This is a great discussion and we hope you enjoy it! 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• [3:57] An overview of ClimateWorks Foundation
• [6:02] Rebecca's unusual entry into climate from physics
• [11:37] Gap in resources and funding for solutions in the industrial sector
• [13:53] Why the industrial sector is considered "hard to decarbonize"
• [16:21] Activities that are mainly responsible for GHG emissions, including steel, cement and chemicals
• [21:56] Costs associated with green production and who covers it
• [28:56] Examples of how Rebecca creates demand for low GHG commodities
• [32:34] ClimateWorks' model for looking at potential grantees
• [37:15] Biggest levers for decarbonizing industrials faster
• [39:28] Voestalpine steel company example of the infrastructure planning, local politics, and social issues tied to decarbonizing certain industrials
• [44:44] Types of capital needed
• [48:36] Why a carbon tax is unappealing
• [52:52] Carbon capture and the cement industry
• [58:41] How people can make an impact in climate working in the industry sector

Get connected: 
Jason's Twitter
Rebecca’s Twitter
MCJ Podcast Twitter
MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on August 5, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
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*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guests are Mary Yap, Co-Founder and CEO at Lithos Carbon, and Adam Wolf, Co-Founder and CEO at Eion Carbon.

Both Lithos and Eion work in the space of enhanced rock weathering, a subset of carbon removal that seeks to speed up the planet's natural carbon cycle. In this process, rain absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere, falls onto and weathers rocks and in doing so creates a bicarbonate solution that eventually finds its way into the ocean for permanent carbon sequestration. For all the talk of engineered carbon capture solutions, rock weathering is about as natural as you can get. It's the foundation of the earth's long carbon cycle, and it also takes place over millions of years, so a bit longer than we need right now.

In this episode, we seek to understand what it means to speed up this natural process and apply it to agriculture such that it can be a viable carbon sink in the decade-scale timeframe we need to address climate change. We have a great discussion about the long carbon cycle itself, the different types of rocks found on earth, how agriculture uses mineral inputs today, and some of the underlying economics of this method as a carbon removal technology. We also learn more about Lithos and Eion, plus Mary and Adam’s personal climate journeys. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• Broad overview of the long carbon cycle
• The power of acid rain in removing CO2 from the atmosphere
• Earth as a habitable planet compared to Venus
• An overview of bicarbonates
• How enhanced rock weathering speeds up this carbon capture solution
• Different types of rocks used for enhanced rock weathering
• Benefits and drawbacks of using limestone
• Energy demands of creating the Lithos and Eion products
• Transportation challenges
• Mary and Adam's MRV methods
• Their company's business models

Get connected: 
Cody's Twitter
MCJ Podcast Twitter
MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded on July 29, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Timothée Parrique, a researcher in ecological economics at Lund University in Sweden. 

Degrowth is one school of thought in the path towards decarbonization, but the topic is rife with controversy. Proponents argue against growing economies and instead shrinking production and consumption while favoring sustainability, social justice, democracy, and well-being. In other words, instead of measuring GDP as a monetary or market value, those who advocate for degrowth measure health and happiness. Skeptics aren’t convinced. Can degrowth be a powerful lever for change and is it realistic given the way some societies are structured today?  

Jason posed this question on Twitter and Timothée kindly offered to share his expertise. Titled “The political economy of degrowth” (2019), Timothée’s PhD dissertation explores the economic implications of degrowth. And while we don’t get to cover everything in this episode, the conversation is another example of the importance of spending time to discuss debated concepts and tease out some of the nuances that can’t be found in 280 characters on Twitter. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• [8:23] Timothée's background in ecological economics or the interaction between economy and nature 
• [14:29] Having a holistic perspective of climate change 
• [17:51] The 1.5 degree threshold 
• [27:07] How production and consumption contribute to climate change 
• [28:52] The carbon budget 
• [33:32] Government integrating climate mitigation into politics and environmental awareness among youth 
• [35:27] Finland's climate neutrality announcement 
• [40:37] The concept of degrowth and its origin
• [43:17] A culture of low-carbon mobility seen in European countries 
• [46:04] Positive dividends of reducing our ecological footprint 
• [51:24] The Rebound Effect 
• [55:21] Capitalism and the impact of removing drivers for growth 
• [1:02:47] Technological innovation and the "avoid, shift, and improve" approach 

Episode recorded on August 4, 2022.

Get connected: 
Jason’s Twitter
Timothée’s Twitter
MCJ Podcast Twitter
MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Kip Pastor, Founder and CEO of Pique Action.

When most people think of climate change, they picture stories about wildfires, melting ice caps, rising sea levels, and a myriad of other ways we’re all just generally screwed. It can feel pretty hopeless, but those of us who have been leaning into solutions know that not all is lost. There are incredible innovations that have the potential to change so much of what we take for granted today, and it's not far-fetched to believe that these innovations can scale to unlock improvements for our future. 

Pique Action is a new media company on a mission to fight climate change with viral storytelling. It's the opposite of doomscrolling. Since their launch in Fall of 2021, Pique has produced 32 micro-documentaries on big climate solutions, amassed more than 7 million views across platforms and gained over 100,000 TikTok followers. 

In this conversation, we talk to Kip about the type of climate storytelling that resonates with audiences today and how Pique plans to scale its impact as it grows. We all have a role to play as climate communicators, even in one-on-one conversations, and hearing what's working for Pique Action can also inspire us to think about our own climate voices. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• An overview of Pique Action
• How Pique intends to change the conversation around climate and drive action
• Balancing realism and optimism in climate storytelling
• Different audiences and levels of engagement across platforms
• Nature Based Solutions with Alaina Wood
• How the company finds content creators
• Climate TikTok
• Kip's background in film/video production and his movement into climate
• Differences between climate communication and other forms of storytelling
• Gaps in climate communication in various forms of media today
• Lack of representation of climate solutions in major movies and television
• Pique's partnerships and business model
• Kip's learnings from watching next-gen media companies

Get connected: 

• Cody on Twitter
• MCJ Pod Twitter
• MCJ Collective Twitter

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 25, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is John Dees, Senior Science Analyst at Carbon Direct.

Carbon Direct is a science-first carbon management firm that enables organizations around the world to reduce, remove, and monitor their carbon emissions. They combine science, technology, and market expertise to help these organizations take action and reach their climate goals. They’re an incredible organization with clients and portfolio companies spanning 28 countries.  

Now, if you've been a longtime listener of the show, Carbon Direct might be a familiar name. The CEO, Jon Goldberg, and the Chief Scientist, Julio Friedmann, have been guests in the past. We’ve also talked to Nili Gilbert who's the current Vice Chairwoman even before she worked at Carbon Direct. This episode is great because John Dees comes from a different background. He's in the trenches, living in excel, and working on the life cycle assessments (LCAs) for carbon emissions. 

In today's episode, we cover:

• An overview of Carbon Direct and where John sits in their portfolio of services
• Projects that require life cycle assessments (LCAs)
• How he thinks about climate and how his perspective has evolved
• How John got involved with carbon removal
• Scaling carbon removal to a level that matters
• Characteristics to consider when selecting CDR technologies
• Barries holding CDR back
• The process behind developing LCAs for different projects
• Types of clients and business drivers for Carbon Direct's LCA services
• The need for LCA standardization and challenges in doing so
• Tooling for LCAs and blind spots
• Differences in LCAs between small vs. big companies and across sectors
• Incentives for a company to care about LCA accuracy
• For-profit LCA work vs. non-profit approaches
• When companies should start thinking about tracking LCAs

Get connected: 
Jason Jacobs
MCJ Podcast
MCJ Collective

*You can also reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded August 1, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Allison Wolff, Founder and CEO at Vibrant Planet. 

This year, wildfires have raged across the Western US, the Mediterranean, Australia, and parts of Canada. While many worry that the intensity and frequency of these blazes are going to get worse, Vibrant Planet is on a mission to create a cloud-based planning and monitoring tool for agile, adaptive land management at scale. The company harnesses data-driven science and cloud-based technology to help community stakeholders create resiliency plans for forests that take multiple factors into account. Their goal is to help planners and policy makers save lives, avoid trillions of dollars in infrastructure loss, and restore the ability of natural systems to store carbon, deliver clean water, and support biodiversity, local economies, and recreational habits.

If you're curious about wildfires and their relationship to climate change, both in terms of how climate change is resulting in increased wildfire severity and how increased wildfire activity is creating feedback loops that reinforce global warming, you'll appreciate this conversation. And lastly, even in the face of some pretty dire numbers, we appreciate Allison’s optimism about what our forests could look like in the coming centuries, given proper care and maintenance today. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• The state of forests in the US and across the globe
• Why wildfires are increasing
• Intersection between land management and climate change
• How some forests need fires to regenerate themselves
• Effective forest management by Indigenous Peoples
• What we can learn from tribes
• How state and federal governments are approaching the issue
• Roadblocks that have slowed progress on forest management
• Allison's background in tech and transition to climate
• Role of software and tech in unlocking collaboration
• Stakeholders involved in planning projects
• Carbon methodology for fire adapted forests

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @codysimms (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 20, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

Today's guest is Benji Backer, Founder and President of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC). 

ACC is focused on building grassroots environmental movement amongst the right-of-center space for climate action, with 150 chapters across the country. Benji is a passionate environmentalist and out to change the minds of people who think conservative and climate change advocate don't belong in the same sentence. 

In today’s episode, we cover: 

• An overview of the American Conservation Coalition and the work they do
• Benji's background and his passion for the environment
• His transition from conservative activist to climate activist 
• How he reconciles his passions and conservative viewpoints
• The two-party system and its shortcomings 
• Increasing polarization in the US 
• Who controls the narrative in Washington vs. who gets bills passed
• The Build Back Better Bill 
• The Republican party's shift away from conservation in the early 2000s
• Issues with the climate narrative leaving people out
• Benji's views on how to balance self-interest and taking action on climate solutions
• The role of government in addressing the climate crisis 
• Consumer behavior changes 
• The intersection between of climate change and environmental justice in cities and rural communities 
• Benji's key priorities over the next 12-24 months 
• ACC's Climate Commitment plan 
• Who he wants to hear from

Enjoy the show!

You can find me on Twitter @jjacobs22 (me), @mcjpod (podcast) or @mcjcollective (company). You can reach us via email at [email protected], where we encourage you to share your feedback on episodes and suggestions for future topics or guests.

Episode recorded July 15, 2022.

Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at [email protected].

Connect with MCJ:

• Cody Simms on LinkedIn
• Visit mcj.vc
• Subscribe to the MCJ Newsletter

*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant