One Percent Brighter

The Carbon Removal Industry Has a Math Problem

The first rule of Carbon Dioxide Removal is do not talk about the scale of Carbon Dioxide Removal

Oct 26 • Quico Toro

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September 2026

The half of the climate crisis that the Greenhouse Effect can’t explain

Why everyone at New York Climate Week was talking about Earth’s Energy Imbalance

Sep 28 • Quico Toro

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The most useful thing a climate activist can do in 2026

What we can do now that we know curbing greenhouse gas emissions won’t be enough

Sep 14 • Quico Toro

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Who emits the most CO₂?

An update and a reality check.

Sep 7 • Quico Toro

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One Cheer for UNEP’s Limiting Overshoot Report

Slowly, ever so slowly, the arithmetic imperative of gigaton carbon dioxide removal is breaking through

Sep 5 • Quico Toro

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Wanna co-host a podcast with me?

One Percent Brighter + Microphone

Sep 3 • Quico Toro

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August 2026

The rounding error climate activists spend all their time fighting over

On the intellectual bankruptcy of “decarbonize electricity, electrify everything.”

Aug 31 • Quico Toro

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The seven levels of climate engagement

From denial to intergenerational geostrategy

Aug 28 • Quico Toro

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Imagine building a car from scratch

A parable for zero-carbon energy

Aug 14 • Quico Toro

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July 2026

Would you prefer the Claude-assisted version of this essay? Or the one that's wrong?

or, How to corral the truth with AI

Jul 31 • Quico Toro

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Natural experiments prove phytoplankton carbon removal works

Dozens of natural events give us a clear picture of what happens when you add minerals to nutrient-deprived oceans.

Jul 13 • Quico Toro

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What if removing carbon dioxide permanently from the atmosphere was really cheap?

Waking up to the crushing cost advantage phytoplankton carbon has

Jul 10 • Quico Toro

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