Farewell Tour for Environmental Reporter (And Eco-Activist Songwriter) Andrew Revkin

It's confirmed: Well-known environmental reporter Andrew Revkin [1]is the latest prominent Times-man to take the struggling paper's buyout offer. Revkin is stepping down next Monday upon his return from the "climate change" talks in Copenhagen, according to Cristine Russell of Columbia Journalism Review, leaving the paper's "global warming" beat while it's hot with the ClimateGate scandal.

Revkin may continue to blog at his nytimes.com site, the portentously titled "Dot Earth - Nine Billion People. One Planet."

(Too bad no one wants to leave, huh?)

Russell reported "Revkin will focus on writing books, including a new one about climate change, the environment, and the linked issues of sustainability and population - 'how the Earth can head toward 9 billion people in 2050 with the fewest regrets,' he said.

Revkin has also been a reliable megaphone for the conventional wisdom [2] from "climate experts" on climate change in his Times reporting.

In the CJR piece, a journalist friend of Revkin lamented he wasn't playing guitar much anymore (Revkin's in a part-time band called Uncle Wade).

Back in May 2006, Times Watch found some fascinating lyrics [3] from one of Revkin's songs, "Liberated Carbon," transcribed by a Revkin fan at a concert:

"We yearned to burn more than dung and sticks.
Then Satan came along and said, 'Hey, try lighting this.'

He opened up the ground and showed us coal and oil.
He said, 'Come liberate some carbon. It'll make your blood boil.'

Liberated carbon, it'll spin your wheels.
Liberated carbon it'll nuke your meals.
Liberated carbon, it'll turn your night to day.
Come on and liberate some carbon, babe, it's the American way."

And for you hard-core fans, here's a clip of the man himself in performance at what might be a gathering sponsored by the nonprofit Environmental Health Science in 2006 (the info provided with the YouTube clip is vague).