“We have to be hopeful, because being hopeful helps shape what we do, and how we address this challenge. …(I)f we think that we can solve it, and that we can create a more prosperous future, a safer climate, and a more habitable planet, then that’s the only way that we’re going to do it.”

~ Jason Hochman, Co-Founder and Senior Director at Direct Air Capture Coalition

Jason leads a growing global, non-profit, multi-stakeholder coalition of over 110 companies, organizations, and institutions working to advance and accelerate the deployment of direct air capture technology to help address climate change. Previously, he helped craft the policy and regulatory construct promoting utility clean energy and energy efficiency efforts at Con Edison, and has worked on climate and sustainability issues at the Department of Defense, Acclimatise, and Demos. He earned an M.S. (Global Energy & Environmental Policy) from New York University and a B.A. (History and Public Policy) from Brown University. He has traveled to all seven continents and can complete a New York Times Sunday crossword puzzle in under 15 minutes. 

What do you do? Can you explain it in terms a 10-year old would understand?

Humanity has made a big mess over the past few centuries. We are trying to help people who are working to clean up that mess. There are technologies that exist and also ones that are being developed to help remove the excess carbon pollution that has been built up in the atmosphere over generations.

The Direct Air Capture Coalition (DAC Coalition) is trying to help advance and accelerate their development and deployment. It’s really about cleaning up the mess that is causing big problems for people.

What is the origin story of the Direct Air Capture Coalition?

The origin story starts with my co-founder Nicholas Eisenberger, who is also the Board Chair of the Direct Air Capture Coalition and an executive at Global Thermostat, one of the older and more established direct air capture (DAC) technology companies. He and his father Peter Eisenberger ran the Direct Air Capture Mobilization Summit in the summer of 2020, with the goal of bringing together leading experts and practitioners in this space to identify what really needed to happen to get DAC on track to play the role that it needs to play as part of a portfolio of climate solutions. 

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