If you're just joining this conversation, I want you to know we're committed to removing a billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2030 because that's how we avert the worst impacts of climate change and keep the world on track for a stable climate and a thriving human civilization.

Carbon removal is in a tough spot.

In the last year, we've had a major pullback in U.S. federal funding for carbon removal.

Venture capital has also pulled back investment.

There are some drafts for funding coming out of the EU, but overall, it looks like we're losing a lot of funding, innovative ideas, innovative companies, meaning that we won't have the solutions that we need to avert the worst impacts of climate change.

Imagine we had a global hub for carbon removal, a country with a giant GDP that announced it was going all out on carbon removal.

That's where we'd have all the R&D, all the sales, all the investment that we need to get things on track.

Now, you might not know this, but California, where I'm from, if it was its own country, would be the world's fifth largest economy.

California has informally been one of the world leaders in carbon removal.

It's home to some of the best carbon removal startups and many of the largest buyers of carbon removal credits.

California is in a good position to be the global hub for carbon removal. But it's informal right now, not at a policy level.

Now, as part of that, last week on the way to COP, we talked about having Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, come to the first ever carbon removal pavilion.

The update is we didn't get Gavin.

But we got close. For those that you were following the group chat and helping out, making connections, there was a point where Gavin was 20 feet from the pavilion.

Instead, we had California State Senator Josh Becker come and speak at a panel at the Carbon Removal pavilion on "National Carbon Removal Roadmaps" (YouTube). (Josh joins 18 minutes in)

Afterwards, I got to talk to Josh, and we may be doing a carbon removal day at the California State Senate to recognize the importance of carbon removal and bring together leaders of carbon removal and policy leaders in California.

That's the next step for establishing California as the global hub for carbon removal.

If you're interested in being part of that, being informed about that, making connections for that, hit reply, I want to hear from you.

COP 30 continues in Brazil for this next week and I want more world leaders to come visit the first ever carbon removal pavilion. If you're a world leader, or if you're in communication with a world leader, hit reply and let's make it happen.

Tito