Scrubbing the Sky: Inside the Race to Cool the Planet

BONUS: Canada’s Carbon Edge - How We Can Lead in Carbon Removal with Na'im Merchant & Grégoire Baillargeon

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 14:00:00 GMT

LIVE from the Montreal's Climate Solutions Prize Festival 2025

Na'im Merchant, Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada and the host of The Carbon Curve podcast, and Grégoire Baillargeon, President of BMO Quebec and Vice Chair of BMO Capital Markets join Ed Whittingham for a panel discussion exploring how Canada can become a global leader in carbon removal.

With two podcast hosts and one Bank of Montreal president, Ed, Na'im and Greg pass the host's mic like a baton as they unpack the developer, buyer and policy dimensions of today’s CDR market in Canada and abroad.

About Our Guests:

Na’im Merchant is the Executive Director of Carbon Removal Canada. He is passionate about the potential for carbon removal to meet climate goals while driving economic and social change. He previously founded Carbon Curve, a consulting practice focused on equitably scaling up carbon removal. Na’im is an advisor to Terraset and the Carbon Removal Standards Initiative, and was previously an Elemental Impact Policy Fellow. He brings 10+ years of leadership experience in non-profits that expanded access to health innovations around the world.

Grégoire Baillargeon is President of BMO, Quebec and Vice Chair, BMO Capital Markets, in November 2022. Passionate about transition and fighting climate change, Mr. Baillargeon has also been acting as Vice Chair of the BMO Climate Institute since September 2024. He recently joined the advisory board of Volt-age: Electrifying Society, a research program at Concordia University, and also serves on Carbon Removal Canada’s advisory board. Under his leadership, BMO became the first bank to join the Montréal Climate Partnership, as well as the launch of conVERTgence, two movements aimed at accelerating decarbonization and integrating sustainable business practices in the city.

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts

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EP4 - Skeptics vs Believers: Is Direct Air Capture Hope or Hype? (Season 1 Finale)

Tue, 25 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Host Ed Whittingham closes out Season 1 by examining the case against Direct Air Capture by one its harshest critics, Al Gore, followed by the counterarguments of supporters. Will DAC live up to its hype and potential to help cool a warming planet?

Guests include:

Greg Nemet, professor at the University of Wisconsin
Klaus Lackner, professor at Arizona State University
David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering
Sara Hastings-Simon, professor at the University of Calgary
Christian Theuer, Policy Communications Lead at Heirloom
Jim McDermott, co-founder and the managing partner of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC
Éric St-Pierre, Executive Director of the Trottier Family Foundation

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP3 - The Carbon Gold Rush: Tech's Next Frontier with Jan Wurzbacher, David Keith & Jim McDermott

Tue, 18 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Host Ed Whittingham delves into the early days of another pioneering Direct Air Capture (DAC) company, Switzerland’s Climeworks, and its innovative modular approach to deploying its technology. Ed also looks into the developing synergy between the tech sector and carbon removal.

Guests include:

Jan Wurzbacher, co-founder of Climeworks
Lucy Hargreaves, Corporate Affairs and Climate Policy at Patch
Jim McDermott, co-founder and the managing partner of Rusheen Capital Management, LLC
David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP2 - Bill Gates & Building a Climate ‘Miracle’ with David Keith & Ken Caldeira

Tue, 11 Mar 2025 10:00:00 GMT

Host Ed Whittingham continues the story behind the development of Direct Air Capture (DAC) technology and its potential role in helping to fight climate change. Ed explores the early days of Canadian cleantech company Carbon Engineering, and how it drew the attention of both Bill Gates and Occidental Petroleum.

Guests include:

Ken Caldeira, senior scientist at Breakthrough Energy
David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on your podcast app of choice.

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

A special thanks to our friends at the Challenging Climate podcast which is available wherever you find your podcasts.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP1 - Carbon Removal: Engineering Earth's Cooling with Klaus Lackner & David Keith

Thu, 27 Feb 2025 12:00:00 GMT

Host Ed Whittingham dives into the world of Direct Air Capture (DAC), a technology that extracts carbon dioxide directly from the ambient air. Ed explores the early history of carbon dioxide removal, why it could be useful in fighting climate change, and challenges the technology has faced along the way.

Guests include:

Klaus Lackner, professor at Arizona State University and often referred to as the “Grandfather of DAC”
David Keith, professor at the University of Chicago and a DAC pioneer who founded the company Carbon Engineering
Paul McKendrick, author of the book that inspired this series

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or on your podcast app of choice.

Learn more at www.scrubbingthesky.com

Produced by Amit Tandon & Bespoke Podcasts.

The podcast is part of the Carbon Herald’s podcast network.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.