<p>In the early 2020s, Microsoft committed to buying 75 million tons of carbon removal—somewhere between 70 and 90 percent of the entire carbon removal market. But the company just announced it was putting that ambition on pause..&nbsp;</p><br><p>Guest: Robinson Meyer, <a href="https://heatmap.news/u/robinsonmeyer" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">founding executive editor of Heatmap News</a>.</p><br><p>Want more What Next TBD? Subscribe to Slate Plus to access ad-free listening to the whole What Next family and all your favorite Slate podcasts. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts by clicking “Try Free” at the top of our show page. Sign up now at<a href="http://slate.com/whatnextplus" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> slate.com/whatnextplus</a> to get access wherever you listen.</p><br><p>Podcast production by Evan Campbell, and Patrick Fort.</p><p>Need to set up your Slate Plus feed? If you subscribed through Slate.com, check out our <a href="https://slate.com/podcastfaqs#plusbenefits" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">FAQ</a> at slate.com/podcastfaqs for easy instructions. Members subscribed via Apple Podcasts get automatic access—no setup required.</p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>