We chose to go to the Moon

Bon anniversaire, IRA. The state of climate tech storytelling. And why climate tech storytellers should pay attention to how the $100/ton CDR 'shot' race the US just launched plays out.

Welcome back. July was the hottest month on Earth in 125,000 years. CO2 was at 422 ppm. Wildfires ravaged Greece, Canada, and - Hawaii. Southern California is getting pounded with 24 months’ rainfall in 24 hours. From a hurricane. For good measure, a 5.1 earthquake was thrown in, just because. America’s Inflation Reduction Act celebrates a year since its surprise passage. Opponents want it to strangle it before its 3rd birthday. COP28 begins in 101 days, and corporate comms is already hard at work.

In this issue of Wicked Problems:

• CDR: ‘Moonshot’ or ‘predatory delay’?

• The State of Climate Tech Storytelling

• Greenlash Watch

Carbon Dioxide Removals

Not so long ago I was asked for advice on rewriting a speech at short notice. [Interesting gig. Nearly killed me. Funny story...] The speaker’s role and the occasion justified issuing a big, bold challenge. I suggested making the centrepiece a call for a non-US ‘earthshot’ programme to accelerate engineered carbon dioxide removal (CDR) from the at…