What's the future got in store for architecture? A return to tried and true organic construction methods like adobe or rammed earth? Buildings that are as alive as human bodies? Something in between? How do we create more beautiful and livable spaces while also making the built environment carbon-negative?

This week's guest is Dr. Wil Srubar, Assistant Professor of Architectural Engineering and Materials Science at the University of Colorado Boulder, Technical Director of Materials R&D at Katerra, and Cochair of the Carbon Leadership Forum Network and serves as its global hub director.

We talk about trends in architecture and materials science and try to ferret out what might be coming down the pike, particularly in light of the article Wil wrote in The Conversation, "Buildings grown by bacteria—new research is finding ways to turn cells into mini-factories for materials".

A Field Guide to American Houses (Revised): The Definitive Guide to Identifying and Understanding America's Domestic Architecture by Virginia Savage McAlester

Wil's CU profile

Akira

Dr. Kate Simonen's RCC episode

Andrew Himes' RCC episode

Chris Magwood and Jacob Deva Racusin's RCC episode

The tragedy of the commons suggests that, left to our own devices, we will overuse and overconsume our shared resources in the name of self-interest. And that either privatization or state control is required to keep us in check. But Elinor Ostrom advanced a third option, a polycentric governance approach in which the people involved solve the problem on their own through a commons solution.

Dr. Nick Cowen is a lecturer in the School of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lincoln and the author of the paper, ‘Cost and Choice in the Commons: Ostrom and the Case of British Flood Management’. Today, Nick joins Ross to discuss the differences among state, market, and commons solutions to the environmental problems we face. He explains how Ostrom’s work changed the way we think about the tragedy of the commons and walks us through several examples of communal solutions that preserve shared resources.

Nick goes on to introduce the concepts of residual-claimancy and the transitional gains trap, describing how government intervention in flood management followed by a period of privatization led to the current dilemma in Great Britain. Listen in for insight around how Ostrom’s communal systems might appeal to both conservative and liberal politics and learn how we can apply her interdisciplinary ideas to protect our shared resources.

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Nick’s Website

Nick on Academia

Nick on SSRN

Nick on Twitter

‘Cost and Choice in the Commons: Ostrom and the Case of British Flood Management’ by Nick Cowen

Elinor Ostrom

Ostrom’s Workshop Method

Ostrom’s Google Scholar Page

Ostrom’s Nobel Prize Lecture

Books by James C. Scott

Ludwig Von Mises’ Insights on Intervention

‘The Transitional Gains Trap’ by Gordon Tullock

Dr. Bryan Caplan on RCC S2EP2

Karen Bradshaw

Bryan Leonard

Friedrich August Hayek

Ilia Murtazashvili

Kate Raworth

We tend to think of climate change as a problem in and of itself. But what if the climate crisis is a symptom of a bigger issue? What if we can’t solve climate change without social justice?

Meteorologist Eric Holthaus is the climate correspondent for The Correspondent and author of The Future Earth: A Radical Vision for What’s Possible in the Age of Warming. Today, Eric joins Ross to explain how climate change is a symptom of broader societal inequalities and discuss the role ownership has played in causing the climate crisis. He shares his vision for a cooperative political and economic system based on distributed production that supports the ideals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all.

Eric goes on to explore the complexity of our connections with the each other and advocate for a system of ethics that promotes care work and prevents overconsumption by a privileged few. Listen in for Eric’s insight around what the pandemic has taught us about the potential for a radically different life and learn how actively reducing inequality is the first step in solving climate change—once and for all.

Key Takeaways

[1:16] The themes Eric presents in The Future Earth

[5:20] How quickly ‘radical solutions’ have become mainstream

[7:26] The relationship between climate and justice

[8:08] The role ownership has played in causing climate change

[17:41] Eric’s vision for our future economic and political systems

[21:35] The concept of distributed production

[27:58] Eric’s take on toxic masculinity and care work

[32:08] How Eric thinks about energy efficiency and overconsumption

[37:18] The potential for us to lead radically different lives

[40:47] Eric’s insight on travel and the auto industry in the US

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 solutions?

Quill is the Vice President of Government Affairs with the American Conservation Coalition, a nonprofit dedicated to empowering young conservatives to reengage in environmental conversations. Today, Quill joins Ross to explain how his involvement in the I-732 campaign in Washington shaped his thinking and shifted his politics. He introduces us to the conservative thinkers who inspire him, walking us through the best principles of the conservative intellectual tradition and how they apply to climate policy.

Quill goes on to discuss why oikophilia (love of place) is not exclusive to rural contexts and offer his take on Hamiltonian versus Jeffersonian economic models. Listen in for Quill’s insight on the three main approaches to climate policy at work in DC and learn what differentiates ACC’s American Climate Contract from the other federal climate policy solutions.

Podcast listeners can purchase Nori Carbon Removal Tonnes here! Thanks so much for your support.

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 in the Department of Political Science at UC Santa Barbara and the author of Short Circuiting Policy: Interest Groups and the Battle Over Clean Energy and Climate Policy in the American States. Today, Leah joins Ross to discuss what makes for good environmental policy and why we need federal clean electricity standards. She weighs in on how public utilities abuse the political system, introducing us to the idea of intervener compensation programs as the most promising way to advocate for the public interest.

Leah goes on to share her criticism of Planet of the Humans, describing the film’s failure to address the nuances of life cycle analysis or the fossil fuel industry’s role in the climate crisis and explaining how the film’s thesis is out of alignment with the Michael Moore’s supposed progressive politics. Listen in as Leah shares a case study of climate policy in the state of Ohio and learn what you can do to let lawmakers know that you care about climate change.

Resources:

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 the Founder and CEO of CarbonCure, a company that recycles waste carbon dioxide to make stronger and greener concrete. They are also one of the four companies chosen by Stripe for its first negative emissions purchases. Today, Rob joins Ross and Christophe to explain how concrete is traditionally produced and what CarbonCure does differently to permanently mineralize carbon in concrete, both improving its quality and reducing its carbon footprint.

Rob weighs in on embodied carbon, sharing the benefits of CarbonCure’s solution in terms of scalability and cost, and discusses the potential for his process to eventually use direct air capture as a source of CO2. Listen in as Rob introduces us to his audacious goal of reducing emissions by 500 megatons per year and learn how we can accelerate the change with procurement policy and carbon offsets.

Resources

CarbonCure

CarbonCure on LinkedIn

CarbonCure on Twitter

Stripe’s Negative Emissions Commitment

Stripe’s First Negative Emissions Purchases

CarbonCure’s Cake Analogy Video

Carbon Leadership Forum

Bill Gates’ Resources on Climate & Energy

CLF’s EC3 Tool Methodology

Breakthrough Energy Ventures

Hawaii’s Concrete Procurement Policy

CarbonCure’s Partnership with HC&D in Honolulu

Elemental Excelerator 

Buy Clean California Act

New York Assembly Bill 8617

Carbon XPRIZE

Emissions Reduction Alberta’s Grand Carbon Challenge

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 decarbonization and drawdown vs. a more comprehensive suite of related issues?" On the one hand, ostensibly there is less room for disagreement when policy is unbundled. On the other hand, big change may be possible within moments like this and it seems myopic at best to focus only on the former and ignoring ongoing harms or negligence. What is an organization to do? Here's a beginning to that conversation, with more programming on the topic to come.

Mellina White, who has been moonlighting as a Norinaut, wrote the article, "Attention white people: Your #BLM memes are not enough", that inspired this conversation.

Mellina White's Twitter

The Seattle Conservative

Campaign Zero

The Rise of the Warrior Cop: The Militarization of America's Police Forces by Radley Balko

"U.S. Lawmaker Prepares Bill Aiming to End Court Protection for Police" in The New York Times

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, Charles joins Ross to discuss the two major schools of thought he identified in the environmental movement—wizards and prophets—and introduce us to the scientists he uses to represent each camp in his book.

Charles walks us through the fundamental differences between the two groups, describing their values, blind spots and radically different ways of seeing the world. Listen in for Charles’ insight on a third school of thought that dismisses both wizards and prophets and find out where he falls on the wizard-prophet spectrum in light of the current global health crisis.

Connect with Ross

Nori

Nori on Patreon

Email [email protected]

Resources

1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created

The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow’s World

Charles on Twitter

Norman Borlaug

Road to Survival by William Vogt

Jared Diamond

Naomi Klein

Paul Ehrlich

Bill McKibben

Ted Nordhaus

Hans Rosling

Jesse Ausubel

Ramez Naam

Emma Marris

Planet of the Humans

Nathaneal Johnson in Grist

‘The Call of Cthulhu’ by H.P. Lovecraft

Dr. Vandana Shiva

Adam Smith’s Parable of the Poor Man’s Son

Lynn Margulis