Important & Useful Video Information
Governmental Related Sources
Congressional Hearings
Oversight hearings conducted by the U.S. House Committee on Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation.
“Increasing Carbon Soil Sequestration on Public Lands”
In June, 2014 the Subcommittee on Public Lands and Environmental Regulation of U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Natural Resources chaired by Congressman Rob Bishop held the first (and so far only) hearing focusing exclusively on increasing soil carbon sequestration. These hearings, entitled “Increasing Carbon Soil Sequestration on Public Lands,” featured four witnesses, one of whom was Win/Win CO2 Solutions’ Steve Rich.
The International 4 per Thousand Agreement
4 per Thousand is a French-organized international agreement developed as part of the United Nations Lima-Paris Action Agenda currently subscribed to by 36 countries and scores of research institutions, financing entities and non-governmental organizations. The objective is to achieve net zero worldwide CO2 emissions by increasing the world’s soil carbon stock in agricultural and forest soils by an average of just 0.4% per year. A second important objective is to address the looming food security threats.
“Soils for Food Security and Climate.”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This is a 3.5 minute summary of the 4 per Thousand concept and gives examples of practices that will be employed to achieve that amount of carbon sequestration in forest and agricultural soils.
“Carbon Sequestration in Soils for Food Security and Climate”
Sources by Research Scientists and Pioneering Ranchers and Farmers
Documentaries by Peter Byck, Chronicler of Soil Carbon Sequestration Successes
Arizona State University professor and talented filmmaker Peter Byck has been a pioneer in effectively documenting the potential of soil sequestration and the management approaches and practices that are currently being successfully employed to accomplish it and to generate the many environmental and economic co-benefits.
“Soil Carbon Cowboys”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This is an excellent 12-minute documentary that examines the approach of three outstanding cattle ranchers who are healing their land, very rapidly sequestering carbon and increasing their profit margins all at the same time. Highly recommended as an overview of the use of cattle in restoring biodiversity and other benefits and in sequestering CO2.
“100,000 Beating Hearts”
QUICK OVERVIEW: “100,000 Beating Hearts” is the story of how Will Harms, owner of White Oak Enterprises, converted from traditional commodity agriculture to regenerative agriculture. It chronicles the positive impacts this has had on his land and the environment as well as how it has reinvigorated his community. Provides an excellent overview of the various win/win benefits and opportunities that flow from carbon sequestering regenerative agriculture.
“During the Drought”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This is an 11-minute film that shows how one Kansas farmer employing carbon sequestering grazing and agricultural practices fared much better in a drought than his neighbors practicing conventional agriculture. It also shows how his approach prevented the damage to the land that his neighbors suffered.
Gabe Brown, North Dakota Rancher and Regenerative Agriculture and Soil Carbon Sequestration Pioneer
North Dakota rancher/farmer Gabe Brown is a world-renowned pioneer in developing and applying the regenerative agricultural practices that not only profitably heal the land but also sequester large amounts of CO2. (He is one of the three producers featured in the documentary “Soil Carbon Cowboys” recommended above.) His successes have been extensively documented by scientists and researchers.
“Regenerative Ranching in North Dakota”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This is a 7-minute tour of Gabe Brown’s Ranch and explains how he runs a very profitable operation with no inputs of chemical fertilizer, herbicides, fungicides or pesticides (the production, transportation, and application of which generate CO2 and other greenhouse gases).
“Regeneration of Our Land: A Producer’s Perspective”
QUICK OVERVIEW: “Regeneration of Our Land: A Producer’s Perspective” is a 16-minute TED Talk that provides an excellent overview of his experiences and the potential of his approaches for restoring healthy, naturally balanced agricultural lands and high-quality wildlife habitat.
Seth Itzkahn, Champion of Natural Carbon Sequestration
Seth Itzkahn has been in the forefront of promoting the many advantages of sequestering atmospheric carbon in soils and natural systems, through speaking, teaching, connecting the scientists and farmers and ranchers who are actually doing that and promoting demonstration projects.
“Reversing Global Warming With Livestock?”
QUICK OVERVIEW: An excellent 8-minute TED Talk in which Mr. Itzkahn explains that because grasslands and grazing herds evolved together, grazing cattle in ways that mimic the grazing previously done by wild herds is not only essential to restoring degraded land but can be the key to dealing with global climate change. Features some very impressive comparisons of land before and after being restored by managed grazing.
Dr. David Johnson, New Mexico State University Advanced Agricultural Production Pioneer and Soil Carbon Researcher
Dr. David Johnson is a microbiologist at New Mexico State University who has done revolutionary and groundbreaking work on establishing optimal soil fungal/bacterial ratios and introducing a vastly diverse soil organism community to improve soil health and land productivity and to maximize the sequestration of atmospheric carbon. He accomplishes this through a breakthrough composting process that jump starts establishing this vastly diverse micro-biom that greatly increases productivity, water retention and use, lower input costs and generates a wide range of other co-benefits. Using his basic management approach he has sequestered up to 15 tons of CO2/ac/yr and his advanced approach is on track to sequester up to 25 tons of CO2/ac/yr. His work truly is potentially world-changing.
“On Rapid Carbon Sequestration.”
QUICK OVERVIEW: In this 90-second video, Dr. Johnson explains why he and others taking his approach are seeing so much more carbon sequestered in the soils they work with compared to what most other scientists are recording. He also explains how restoring healthy and productive soil microbial communities is a paradigm shift in how we will have to sustainably produce food in the future and why this is the only real option to sequester vast amounts of atmospheric CO2 quickly and cost-effectively.
“Managing Soil Biology to Increase Soil Carbon Sequestration”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This is a 17-minute excerpt from a talk in which Dr. Johnson explains the impacts of optimizing the fungal/bacterial ratio and use of his breakthrough compost techniques to improve soil productivity, carbon sequestration and to generate a wide range of co-benefits. He shows some of the results of his research, explains the many benefits and looks at the economics of soil sequestration using his approach compared to other approaches being considered to deal with CO2.
Greg Judy, Expanding the Practical Potential of Profitable Sustainable Agriculture and Carbon Sequestration
A highly successful Missouri farmer, author, consultant and lecturer, Greg Judy, as much as anyone else in the regenerative agricultural movement, has pioneered a highly profitable approach to farming that is environmentally responsible, widely applicable, extremely productive and also sequesters huge amounts of carbon.
“The Healing Effects of Holistic High Density Grazing on Land, Livestock and People’s Lives”
Dr. Kristine Nichols, Pioneering Soil Scientist
Dr. Kristine Nichols is one of the world’s leading scientists on the mechanisms by which carbon is sequestered in soils. Formerly a scientist with the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agricultural Research Service, she was part of the research team that discovered glomalin, a substance in soils that helps bind carbon and improve soil structure. For that work, she and her team were nominated for the World Food Prize. Currently, she is Chief Scientist at the highly respected Rodale Institute.
“Dr. Kristine Nichols Talks About Soil, Carbon Sequestration and Regenerative Grazing”
QUICK OVERVIEW: In this 5-minute interview, Dr. Kristine Nichols talks about soil, carbon sequestration and regenerative grazing in which she explains that most of the world’s soils are “starving for carbon” and that many of the problems affecting agricultural production are either exacerbated by lack of carbon or could be solved by replenishing soil carbon stocks through a variety of techniques, including regenerative grazing.
Dr. Pat Richardson, Research Soil Ecologist
Dr. Pat Richardson is a research ecologist at the University of Texas at Austin who specializes in the role of insects in promoting soil health. She has long been active in researching and promoting positive grazing and soil management practices.
“Soil Critters – Life in the Great Underneath”
QUICK OVERVIEW: This fascinating 16-minute video features microphotography of some of the myriad of organisms that make up healthy soil communities combined with easily understandable commentary on the role they play in sequestering carbon, fixing nitrogen, and improving soil structure, function and fertility. These organisms are so abundant in healthy soil that their combined biomass greatly outweighs that of the animals living on the surface.
Joel Salatin, World Renowned Farmer, Author, Lecturer and Soil Carbon “Philosopher”
Joel Salatin is a world-famous pioneer in profitably integrating various kinds of regenerative poultry and livestock husbandry in a synergistic way that also sequesters CO2 on his 550 acre Polyface Farm located in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. A popular author and lecturer with a worldwide following, Mr. Salatin is one of the most thoughtful and eloquent “philosophers” of the regenerative agriculture movement, exploring the social, cultural, ethical and economic opportunities made possible by converting to this much more earth-friendly but still highly profitable approach.
“Cows, Carbon and Climate.”
QUICK OVERVIEW: A 17-minute TED Talk focusing on how plants capture sunlight and CO2 and how properly grazing them can sequester atmospheric carbon, helping deal with the climate issue, while at the same time provide healthy meat and dairy products for human use and improving the environment.
Allan Savory, Pioneer of Holistic Resource Management
Allan Savory is a biologist and the developer and foremost world proponent of the “holistic management and planned grazing” approach to livestock grazing and land restoration. He is currently applying this approach on over 15 million hectares on five continents with amazing results and it is increasingly being employed by other practitioners around the world as well. In the process of restoring the land, vast amounts of atmospheric carbon are being sequestered long term in grasslands and a wide range of environmental and economic co-benefits are being generated.
“How to Green the World’s Deserts and Reverse Climate Change.”
Dr. Richard Teague, Internationally Respected Texas A and M Grazing Researcher
Dr. Richard Teague is a professor of sustainable rangeland management at Texas A and M University and is an internationally recognized expert in managing grazing systems to generate the widest range of economic and other benefits including carbon sequestration. A range ecologist and research scientist who has held teaching positions in Zimbabwe, South Africa and now in Texas, Dr. Teague was one of the four expert witnesses along with Win/Win CO2 Solutions’ Steve Rich who testified at the congressional hearing linked to above. He has also been a persistent and very effective critic of the limitations of the concepts, methodology and research designs of many academics who claim to be evaluating the many positive environmental and economic benefits that regenerative agricultural practices are clearly demonstrating on millions of acres around the world.
“A Scientific Perspective on Managing Grazing Ecosystems in a Warming World”
John Wick, Founder of the Marin Carbon Project
John Wick is a pioneer in the effort to better understand how healthy rangelands can sequester atmospheric carbon and how, through compost application and good management practices, that rate of sequestration can be greatly increased. Using his own ranch in Marin County, California, Mr. Wick has initiated one of the earliest long-term, scientifically verified carbon sequestration studies.
“The Soil Solution – Focus On: The Marin Carbon Project.”
QUICK OVERVIEW: In this 7-minute video, John Wick and several experts show how they are experimenting with techniques to sequester substantial amounts of atmospheric carbon in pasture lands on the ranch, using compost, cattle and timed grazing. They discuss the potential of sequestering enough CO2 in the world’s rangelands to reduce CO2 levels to 350 parts per million.