The “Next West:” Up in the Air

If the current ‘New West’ is inexorably giving way to the ‘Next West,’ as so many ‘New Wests’ have done before, and if the region is in search of a new mission statement as a consequence, then clues to what’s coming might be found among the bright green grass of a small ranch in Marin County. At the very least, it is certainly something new under the sun. It’s called the Marin Carbon Project and its goal is nothing less than reversing global warming. That’s a tall order, of course, especially for one family, a few hundred acres, a small herd of cattle, and a handful of scientists. The idea behind the project is simple: it aims to sequester excess amounts of atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) in the ranch’s soil. This is important because we know that to reverse climate change we need to do two things: (1) reduce emissions of greenhouse gases, especially CO2, by a lot; and (2) increase sequestration so that the level of CO2 in the atmosphere drops from its current level of 389 parts-per-million down to 350 ppm (or lower). While the vast majority of current climate change legislation, regulation, activism, and proposed solutions focus on reducing emissions, the truth is these actions won’t avert a climate calamity by themselves (assuming they actually get implemented). That’s because we’re already over the 350 ppm threshold for CO2. The science is clear: we need to pull CO2 out of the atmosphere as well as reduce emissions. That’s where the Marin Carbon Project comes in...read more