Ep. 22 - Turning Down the Global Thermostat

There are few people who know more about climate change than Columbia University's Graciela Chichilnisky. Not only did she propose and design the carbon credits trading system under the Kyoto Protocol, she also was a lead author of the 2007 report from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that won the Nobel Prize. Not too shabby.

Prof. Chichilnisky, however, isn't relying solely on the world's governments to solve our climate crisis. The double-PhD is the CEO of Global Thermostat, a startup that's raised $52 million so far to inexpensively suck CO2 out of the atmosphere.

If she succeeds, we could quickly, as the name Global Thermostat implies, set the temperature of the planet, thereby perhaps averting a climate doomsday scenario that many experts warn is already unfolding.

In this interview, we'll hear how the technology works, where it stands now, and how Prof. Chichilnisky responds to concerns raised by critics about her plan.

Mentioned in this episode

• Carbon Negative video
• Washington Post profile on Global Thermostat
• Bill Gates touts Global Thermostat in MIT's Technology Review