Paul Gambill · Seattle
The Overshoot Era is my Substack and podcast on the Earth systems stabilization field. Stabilization is the third tool alongside mitigation+removal and adaptation. It covers ice sheet preservation, permafrost protection, coral reef shading, storm mitigation, cooling interventions like stratospheric aerosol injection and other large, open-system interventions. My background is in carbon removal and that still shows up in what I write, but most of what I'm working on now is field building for stabilization: the permission space, the philanthropic funding, the research programs, and the operational capacity that have to exist before we can make responsible decisions about any of this.
I entered the carbon removal space in 2015, wanting to figure out how to build an industry capable of removing a trillion tons of CO₂. Now I find myself working at the beginning of the stabilization field, trying to figure out how to get more resources into this space, more people working on it, how to build the social license and the permission space for it, and how to prepare so we're ready to make decisions about these things soon, because the risks are nearer than previously thought.
Built the first carbon removal marketplace, sold the first soil carbon removal credits, paid millions to farmers, and wound the company down in 2024.
Founded the world's first carbon removal community, before most people knew the term.
Earlier: engineering, product management, and operations at Deloitte Digital, Übermind, Mentor Creative Group, and General Assembly.
The easiest way to reach me is with a DM on LinkedIn.