{"id":1866,"date":"2023-10-27T13:21:53","date_gmt":"2023-10-27T13:21:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?page_id=1866"},"modified":"2025-02-28T03:06:33","modified_gmt":"2025-02-28T03:06:33","slug":"liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"width: 646px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg\" width=\"636\" height=\"637\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">A Very Fine Line (2013) by Andy Revkin &amp; Friends album cover, featuring \u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d (from Bandcamp).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Andrew (Andy) Revkin, is the founding director of Columbia University\u2019s Earth Institutes Initiative on Communication and Sustainability. He is also a well-respected environmental journalist and has spent time working for influential companies, including National Geographic and The New York Times.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">In addition to environmental journalism, Revkin writes and performs music pertaining to climate and the environment. In 2013, Revkin released the song \u201cLiberated Carbon,\u201d in which he analyzed the relationship between humans and climate, particularly the use of fossil fuels.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">You can listen and find lyrics to the song <a href=\"https:\/\/revkin.bandcamp.com\/track\/liberated-carbon\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a> and watch a video performance <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ZOXgM3Fbr_4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">How is this related to climate change?<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Revkin performed \u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d\u00a0 at the ScienceOnline Climate conference in 2013, in addition to speaking about the connection between climate change and the internet. This live performance of \u201cLiberated Carbon,\u201d at a conference attended by renowned\u00a0 environmental scientists, journalists, and advocates,\u00a0 illustrated the value of the song\u2019s entertaining and stimulating approach in \u00a0 serious conversations about climate.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d references the impacts of carbon emissions, from the way we use fossil fuels in our daily life to their effects on global climate:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 80px\"><em>\u201cLiberated carbon, it&#8217;ll spin your wheels.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 80px\"><em>Liberated carbon, it\u2019ll nuke your meals.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 80px\"><em>Liberated carbon, it\u2019ll turn your night to day.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p dir=\"ltr\" style=\"text-align: left;padding-left: 80px\"><em>Come on and liberate some carbon, babe, it\u2019s the American way.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">The use of \u201cliberation\u201d in the song has a dual meaning. Humans are \u201cliberating\u201d carbon\u00a0 by burning fossil fuels for\u00a0 energy. This process\u00a0 releases carbon dioxide, which is a powerful greenhouse gas, into the atmosphere. Greenhouse gasses trap and retain heat within our atmosphere, resulting in global temperature and climate changes.\u00a0 \u201cLiberation\u201d also refers to\u00a0 the quick solutions that the\u00a0 ease\u00a0 of fossil fuel use\u00a0 brings to accomplishing everyday tasks,\u00a0 such as heating our meals and powering our vehicles.<\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">In addition to contributing towards the increase in global temperature, obtaining and using fossil fuels lead to air and water pollution. Revkin compares the use of fossil fuels to a cycle in which humanity \u201csolves\u201d the problems caused by fossil fuel use with fossil fuel based engineering. Furthermore, people tend to\u00a0 pay attention to the issues that personally affect them and can be \u201cfixed\u201d with nonrenewable energy, despite the impact\u00a0 that fossil fuel use has on global climate.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div style=\"width: 508px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh7-us.googleusercontent.com\/vxwqxC7MYy8xjd2YsQbz3DFeRFEmRospLDNrR7sy7S4piYoU0EuMkXkQp1viYgeWiboUYp4rahzl26rOAXQL6yPvivReTErrYra8v3Se2rwIG62fPaMhNQHEzU8Q7a6frPlcY6e6g8Qd0ObSDJLsy-8\" alt=\"\" width=\"498\" height=\"344\" \/><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Graph displaying various nations\u2019 CO2 emissions per capita between 1980 and 2004 (from Mongabay, year).<\/p><\/div>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">In a New York Times article titled \u201cLiberated carbon, It\u2019ll Turn your night to day,\u201d written by Revkin in 2013, a graph displaying the amount of CO2 emitted per person by various nations in the years 1980, 1990, and 2004 was referenced in his explanation of \u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d (image above).<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">In this comparison, The United States had\u00a0 the largest per capita\u00a0 carbon emissions, and Revkin\u2019s song takes the point of view of an American citizen reflecting on the effect of fossil fuel use\u00a0 on the American country and way of life. The song also mentions American troops invading the Middle East, who the United States\u00a0 depend on for the supply of fossil fuels l. Liberating carbon is, as Revkin emphasizes\u00a0 in the song&#8217;s chorus, \u201cthe American way.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p dir=\"ltr\"><strong><span style=\"font-size: 12pt\">References and additional resources<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Revkin, A. \u201cA very fine line, by Andy Revkin.\u201dBandcamp, 2013\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/revkin.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-very-fine-line\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/revkin.bandcamp.com\/album\/a-very-fine-line<\/a><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Mongabay.org. \u201cMongabayorg.\u201d Mongabay.org. <a href=\"https:\/\/photos.mongabay.com\/07\/0507co2-percapita.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/photos.mongabay.com\/07\/0507co2-percapita.jpg<\/a><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Revkin, A. \u201cAndrew Revkin on about.me.\u201d about.me, 2013. <a href=\"https:\/\/about.me\/revkin\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/about.me\/revkin<\/a><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Revkin, A. \u201cIs the internet good for the climate?\u201d The New York Times, August 2013. <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/08\/15\/is-the-internet-good-for-the-climate\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/08\/15\/is-the-internet-good-for-the-climate\/<\/a><\/li>\n<li dir=\"ltr\" role=\"presentation\">Revkin, A.C. \u201cLiberated carbon, It\u2019ll Turn your night to day.\u201d The New York Times, August 2013. <a href=\"https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/08\/16\/liberated-carbon-itll-turn-your-night-to-day\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/archive.nytimes.com\/dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com\/2013\/08\/16\/liberated-carbon-itll-turn-your-night-to-day\/<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h3>How to cite this page<\/h3>\n<p><em>&#8220;Liberated Carbon&#8221; by Andy Revkin<\/em>. (2023, October 27). Climate in Global Cultures and Histories: Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines. Retrieved Month Date, Year, from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/\">https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Andrew (Andy) Revkin, is the founding director of Columbia University\u2019s Earth Institutes Initiative on Communication and Sustainability. He is also a well-respected environmental journalist and has spent time working for [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":308,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_themeisle_gutenberg_block_has_review":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-1866","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Andrew (Andy) Revkin, is the founding director of Columbia University\u2019s Earth Institutes Initiative on Communication and Sustainability. He is also a well-respected environmental journalist and has spent time working for [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Climate in Arts and History\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-28T03:06:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/\",\"name\":\"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/f4.bcbits.com\\\/img\\\/a2668359019_10.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-10-27T13:21:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-28T03:06:33+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/f4.bcbits.com\\\/img\\\/a2668359019_10.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/f4.bcbits.com\\\/img\\\/a2668359019_10.jpg\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/\",\"name\":\"Climate in Arts and History\",\"description\":\"Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.science.smith.edu\\\/climatelit\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History","og_description":"Andrew (Andy) Revkin, is the founding director of Columbia University\u2019s Earth Institutes Initiative on Communication and Sustainability. He is also a well-respected environmental journalist and has spent time working for [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/","og_site_name":"Climate in Arts and History","article_modified_time":"2025-02-28T03:06:33+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg","type":"","width":"","height":""}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/","name":"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin - Climate in Arts and History","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg","datePublished":"2023-10-27T13:21:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-28T03:06:33+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/f4.bcbits.com\/img\/a2668359019_10.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/liberated-carbon-by-andy-revkin\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"\u201cLiberated Carbon\u201d by Andy Revkin"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/","name":"Climate in Arts and History","description":"Promoting Climate Literacy Across Disciplines","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/308"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1866"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2921,"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1866\/revisions\/2921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.science.smith.edu\/climatelit\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}