The Ledger
Every statement that passed quotation and attribution checks. Mix any filter with any other: certainty 1/5, debate potential 5/5, or both at once.
why aren't all 10 resolved? a statement only gets an assessment when the public record can support or contradict it. opinions and what-ifs never can, and 0 checkable ones are still open, waiting for their date. predictions held up or didn't; assertions are supported or contradicted. on every card: ▮▮▮▮▮ certainty · ▮▮▮▮▮ debate potential. speakers are clickable
Slesserev: Evolving science makes precise soil carbon calculations currently impossible
“Our conceptual understanding of what goes on in soil and why carbon sticks around as long as it does in soil has been evolving really rapidly over the last couple decades, and it's by no means settled.
so that, that doesn't mean that, you know, we're totally …”
Slesserev: Enhanced rock weathering lacks field proof even locally
“The catch is that we still don't have many field studies, and so it hasn't really been proven even at a local level, let alone at scale. And it's, I It's probably pretty hard to quantify how much CO₂ is actually being removed via that pathway. There are many p…”
Slesserev: Additionality Dilemmas in Soil Carbon Outweigh Physical Measurement Issues
“And this issue plagues the forestry sector as well. It's just as bad in the soil world. And I personally, I think that challenge swamps the measurement issues”
Slesserev: No-till farming can actually deplete soil carbon at deeper depths
“Basically shifting tillage regime it means that not only are you changing the biology of the system and the rate at which carbon Flows through it, but also changing the vertical distribution of carbon, because tilling soil mixes carbon, and it also influences …”
Slesserev: Soil models used for carbon credit baselines are fundamentally outdated
“And so the models that are being used to make projections about carbon sequestration in soil, or to come up with estimates for baselines for those calculations, are They're essentially outdated, which is not to say that they're wildly inaccurate, but they don'…”
Slesserev: Conservation Agriculture Is Not Equivalent to Permanent Carbon Removal
“Organic carbon is not necessarily a long-lived sink for atmospheric CO₂, and at some level, I think that's the central thing to keep in mind, is that microbes like to break down organic matter. It's how they make a living and so any one of these practices migh…”
Slesserev: Soil Carbon Sampling Must Go Deeper Than 30-Centimeter Standards
“It's still not clear exactly how deep we should be going although it's probably deeper than 30 centimeters, which is the kind of minimum that people require.”
Slesserev: Unclear If Soil Erosion Is Net Carbon Source or Sink
“For instance, that erosion question I just brought up earlier, there's been an ongoing debate about, you know, whether
The erosion of soil and transport of that carbon amounts to a source or a sink of CO₂ to the atmosphere.
We don't really even feel certain ab…”
Slesserev: Crop Agriculture Adds Less Deep Soil Carbon Than Perennials
“Converting ecosystems that were composed of deeply rooted plants, like perennial grasses, with ecosystems that are managed by humans and composed of
Our crop plants, which tend to be fairly short-lived and hence shallow-rooted, and therefore add less carbon to…”