About the Carbon Sketches category

(This video has been password protected while it makes its way to RPR’s you tube channel. I’ll change the link to that location when it is live)

Carbon Sketches is a working place for building and presenting information about this point in history, starting with Carbon and working back. This is a late outshoot from the old climate change podcast, Imgine My Relief.

Back then, I was having long talks with people who were working on the problem and getting their story.

This time, I want to have more conversations and will likely re-start the podcast, but I will also focus on creating videos and animations to pass on the things I pick up.

Activists and advocates pay extraordinary prices to get people’s attention on the big subjects. I’m not trying to do that. Rather, I’m aiming to support the people that do. So if you are working on something broadly connected to the climate space, and you’d like some help to put words and (moving) images together, let me know. I’d likely be keen to help.

To get the ball rolling, I have been learning about the case for Rail and talking to the people at Restore Passenger Rail. This first video is for them.

A little on the platforms:

  • I’m using Vimeo to develop the vids. It’s a place to develop things which can later be copied to the busier social media platforms.
  • I’m using Discourse (not Discord!) as a place to work. Like Vimeo, this is more of as a place to work than a place to publish.
  • If we’re working on something together, or if I’m sharing something with some regulars, I’ll ask them to sign on to the platform. But most of the stuff will be open, so you don’t have to.
  • the old podcast and blog can be found at Imagine My Relief - it’s a bit out of date an I need to make some decisions and renovate bits of if, including the episodes. If anyone has a particular interest in that stuff let me know. I will at least restore the old episodes.

Note for the RPR video:

Many of the numbers quoted here come from this report by the International Energy Agency https://www.iea.org/reports/rail

Details on rail in the 1960s and other reflections on the demise of rai in New Zealand come from the book ‘You can’t get there from here’ by historian Andre Brett Can't Get There From Here, Browse our books, Otago University Press, University of Otago, New Zealand

The connections between access to transport and poverty are covered in these video - see 7:16

And more on the poverty connection here:

There are many studies on GM’s role in killing mass transit and creating the highway model, including the one above. Here are a couple more:

Keep an eye out for more videos exploring some of these subjects in more detail.