Sacramento, California – California’s climate fight is often told through smokestacks, tailpipes and power lines. But later this week, the state is turning attention to a quieter question: once carbon is already in the air, where can it go?
The answer, California officials say, may be spread across forests, farms and even deep underground rock formations. That mix of old natural systems and new technology will be the focus of a Secretary Speaker Series hosted by the California Natural Resources Agency on Thursday, July 2, from noon to 1 p.m.
The event comes as California continues to frame carbon removal as one piece of a much larger climate strategy. State leaders have repeatedly stressed that removing carbon from the atmosphere is not a substitute for cutting pollution. Instead, it is meant to work beside the state’s main goal: sharply reducing carbon pollution across California.
The speaker series will bring together Secretary Wade Crowfoot and a panel of climate, energy, geology and carbon-removal experts to explain how these approaches work and why they matter. The discussion is expected to cover both nature-based solutions and engineered carbon removal, two broad paths that can look very different on the ground but share the same basic purpose: pulling carbon out of the atmosphere or keeping it stored safely.
Nature-based solutions can include landscapes that already play a major climate role, including forests and farms. These places can store carbon while also supporting wildlife, water systems, soil health and local communities. Engineered approaches can involve more technical systems, including storage in deep underground rock formations, a subject that connects climate policy with geology, land use and long-term safety questions.
The panel will include Wade Crowfoot, Secretary of the California Natural Resources Agency; Le-Quyen Nguyen, Deputy Secretary for Energy; Amanda Hansen, Deputy Secretary for Climate Change; Rajinder Sahota, Deputy Executive Officer for Climate Change and Research at the California Air Resources Board; Baani Behniawal, Carbon Drawdown Director at the Climate Center; Chris Gould, Executive Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer and Managing Director of CTV Holdings; and Jeremy Lancaster, State Geologist with the California Geological Survey at the Department of Conservation.
Together, they are expected to walk through how projects across California are being used not only to address climate pollution, but also to deliver broader benefits for communities, landscapes and ecosystems.
For residents, the event offers a look inside a climate conversation that is becoming more urgent and more complicated. Cutting emissions remains the center of the work. But California is also asking what can be done with the carbon already helping warm the planet.