351: The Virgin Earth Challenge & the Early Days of Carbon Removal: Lessons of Curiosity, Discipline, & Grace—w/ Dave Addison, Founder of Planetary Practitioners

Carbon removal isn't that old. So for someone who's been involved in it for almost fifteen years... that's an elder. And today he's bringing the wisdom he earned the hard way.

Dave Addison is formerly the Virgin Earth Challenge Manager, an effort he began working on in 2010. That's about six years before I had even heard of CDR, so a long time indeed!

Last year, Dave started Planetary Practitioners, a consultancy founded on a long-run vision of helping much more of humankind access decent work in net-positive industries. You can read his writing and keep up with his work here.

One pattern you might notice in shows is that many of the lessons aren't merely about commercial strategy or TRL or unit economics. Much of the best advice is how to walk upon the Earth in a way that shows you belong here. So today, it's more emotional than average. For those of you who want or need such an experience, it is here for you, and I hope you enjoy this conversation with my good friend, Dave.

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Resources

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"Keep Going", from Dave's Substack for Planetary Practitioners

Virgin Earth Challenge

Longitude rewards system

Carl Sagan's Cosmos: A Personal Voyage

David Grinspoon's Earth in Human Hands: Shaping Our Planet's Future

The Telepathy Tapes

Charles C. Mann's The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World

"It's Just a Ride" by Bill Hicks

"The Darmine Doggy Door" from I Think You Should Leave

Charlie Chaplin's speech from The Great Dictator

Nathan Fielder'sThe Rehearsal

N.B. The meme thumbnail is not original content and is intended for thematic discussion in this episode and its accompanying bonus episode, and is just a common theme whenever Dave and I chat.