371: Can Carbon Removal Grow with Sports? Why Athletic Media Goes Up and to the Right—w/ Aidan Preston of Milkywire

Episode 371 of the Reversing Climate Change podcast, hosted by Carbon Removal Strategies LLC, titled "371: Can Carbon Removal Grow with Sports? Why Athletic Media Goes Up and to the Right—w/ Aidan Preston of Milkywire" was published on October 22, 2025 and runs 53 minutes.

October 22, 2025 ·53m · Reversing Climate Change

Summary

Much of legacy media is dying. You know what isn't? Live sports. Where the outcome is uncertain, people want to watch.That means bringing together large numbers of fans and athletes. And what does that all add up to? Emissions. And emissions that could potentially be detached from profitability, leading to budgets large enough to support meaningful carbon removal.But will sports leagues move in this direction? Or is it better that it stay at the level of individual teams jockeying for brand value from climate action?Today's guest is Dr. Aidan Preston, Senior Impact Manager of Milkywire and former Advisor to the United States Department of Energy.Aidan is a sports fanatic and the author of Milkywire's latest report, "The Climate Cost of Growth in Sport: An Opportunity for Sports to Win on Climate".We discuss the evolving media landscape around sports, the creation and surprising rise of new sports, the omnipresence of sports betting, and how all of this might play out for carbon removal and climate action.This Episode's Sponsors⁠⁠Absolute Climate:⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ the only standard that’s developed independent of registries⁠⁠⁠⁠Philip Lee LLP: legal resources for carbon removal buyers and suppliers⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Peter Minor from Absolute Climate⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Listen to the RCC episode with Ryan Covington from Philip Lee LLP⁠⁠⁠Become a sponsor by emailing carbon.removal.strategies[at]gmail.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Use this affiliate link to use Descript's transcripting and podcast editing service⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Sign up for the 9Zero climate coworking space with my referral code⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Resources⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Become a paid subscriber of Reversing Climate Change⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Subscribe to the Reversing Climate Change Substack"The Climate Cost of Growth in Sport: An Opportunity for Sports to Win on Climate", a Milkywire report by Dr. Aidan Preston350: Robert Höglund Presents: The Many Perils of Being Catalytic in a Carbon Accounting WorldFIFA"Mohammad Ali — Amazing Speed"; watch this video for the out-of-this-world dodges aloneAmerica's Sweethearts: Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders; you can see the F1 and golf series on Netflix too30 for 30KayfabeAidan recommended this Michael Lewis podcast on sports bettingAidan sent me the link to this study on how talking to strangers brings satisfactionAcquired episode about Indian Premier League Crickethttps://www.derekthompson.org/p/why-everything-became-televisionCUR8Taylor Swift and the Chiefs/NFLJason Isbell on being the subject of the documentary, Jason Isbell: Running With Our Eyes Closed: "Yet Isbell admits there were times during the filming process when he needed a moment to himself. “I would leave the room, or unplug my microphone and get away from the camera. Sometimes it was too much,” he says. “But once the footage was all there and edited together, I didn’t use any sort of veto power or take anything out.”"The Gulf of Aden (sorry, Aidan; I couldn't help it...)

Episode Description