CALLA ROSE OSTRANDER and JOHN WICK on Carbon Drawdown in Abrupt Climate Change /52
Marin County, California by Alex Boltunov
As greenhouse gas concentrations continue to climb to perilous extremes, scientists are observing dozens of new self-reinforcing feedback loops taking effect and a once-mighty biosphere begins to sputter. The pace of climate breakdown has greatly outpaced projections, and will continue to accelerate as these tipping points are reached—unless!—there were a secret power we could harness to pull CO2 out of the sky and safeguard it in the soils of a verdant food-bearing landscape.
On the California coast, breakthrough research at the Marin Carbon Project has given a glimmer of hope to the disillusioned. We’re joined today by two people whose mission is to realize the potential of plants and soil communities to restore our future.
John Wick
John Wick is a rancher, carbon farmer, and sustainable land management advocate. He is the co-founder of the Marin Carbon Project, which seeks to enhance carbon sequestration in rangelands, agriculture and forest soils, and is the co-owner of Nicasio Native Grass Ranch in Marin County, California. On the ranch, John manages molecules, microorganisms and rain at the watershed scale. John’s personal mission is to remove enough CO2 from the atmosphere through photosynthesis to get us below 300 ppm, or “climate drawdown.”
Calla Rose Ostrander
Calla Rose Ostrander is a strategic advisor and activist who works with leaders in California and the western US to rebalance the planet’s carbon cycle. She worked for ten years in municipal climate policy for the cities of Aspen and San Francisco, leading climate action and resilience planning and internal sustainability reporting, and also worked for Earth Economics, the California Carbon Campaign and the Rocky Mountain Institute.
For The Wild is a slow media organization dedicated to land-based protection, co-liberation, and intersectional storytelling. We are rooted in a paradigm shift away from human supremacy, endless growth, and consumerism. As we dream towards a world of grounded justice and reciprocity, our work highlights impactful stories and deeply-felt meaning making as balms for these times.