Climate change is here, faster than most of us expected, with its attendant extraordinary increases in intensity and frequency of wildfires, droughts, flooding, and more. For nearly two decades now, I have been working on strategically chosen activities that I hope will help us ultimately reverse global warming and its disastrous effects. These activities include: (i) basic physical chemistry research that can help us understand how best to capture and convert the ubiquitous greenhouse gas carbon dioxide sustainably into chemicals and minerals, and (ii) advising government and other entities on what we must do to accelerate the transition to a net-zero or net-negative carbon emission world. My seminar therefore will offer examples of each. On the research side, I will discuss our recently introduced rare-event-sampling ab-initio molecular dynamics refined by embedded correlated wavefunction theory approach that enabled us to obtain accurate free energetics and insights into carbon dioxide mineralization in seawater and carbon dioxide reduction via electrolysis. On the policy side, I will give a brief overview of the congressionally mandated study I led for the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, which culminated in two consensus reports released in 2023 and 2024, on carbon utilization markets, infrastructure, and research and development. By advancing both basic research and science policy, I hope to help accelerate the necessary transition to a sustainable civilization.