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Buildings are 40% of emissions and 90% of the ones that we live in today are gonna be with us after 2050, so get them insulated!
Baba Brinkman breaks down the science and the rationally-compelling but unsexy appeal of retrofit insulation as a key factor in emission reductions to combat climate change.
Made with support from University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder County, and the City of Boulder.
The climate is changing baby
And that is not a sexy topic
Fossil fuel wrapping us
In emissions of carbon
Like the planet’s insulated
No joke, no special gimmick
Just set a target and hit it
Get your crib retrofitted
Buildings are 40% of emissions
And 90% of the ones that we live in
Today are gonna be with us
After 2050
So get them insulated
Talk to the council, talk to the landlord
Vote for the politicians who want to
Invest in it and plan for it
Wrap an apartment building in a jacket
Fit it with a heat pump
Pre-fabbin’ the package in a factory
EnergieSprong
Insulated
If you need funds, look to the subsidies
Private investors are buzzing
That people can pay for it monthly
Emission cuts, if your city is with it
Then back your city up
If the cuts are big enough
Like Ithaca, Ithaca, Ithaca
Ithaca, Ithaca, Itha…
Gotta insulate it
Retrofit it, retrofit it
Gotta insulate it
Let’s go get it, let’s go get it
Gotta insulate it
Cut emissions, cut emissions
Gotta insulate it
Unsexy, unsexy
Gotta insulate it
You energy wastin’ bastards
Your furnace is up your walls are thin
And the glaciers are all collapsin’
We know what’s makin’ it happen
And we know what’s needed to stop it
And we all just want to help
As long as it doesn’t affect our wallets
Insulated
‘Cause none of us feelin’ the impact
Read up on it academically
Middle class life intact
And really, this is a policy issue
And if you get sad then you all need a tissue
But in the meantime, I’m livin’ blissful
‘Cause my crib is insulated
It’s nice
In the wintertime outside is ice
Snow be makin’ the whole street
Look like a wedding cake
Outside is white
Inside, I’m just fine, I’m toasty
Temperature all that, I’m boasting
Comedy Central, Martha Stewart
I’m roasting, coasting
From Boulder to Pagosa Springs
Colorado to Kinshasa, Congo
All around the world
Let’s go!
Gotta insulate it
Retrofit it, retrofit it
Gotta insulate it
Let’s go get it, let’s go get it
Gotta insulate it
Cut emissions, cut emissions
Gotta insulate it
Unsexy, unsexy
Gotta insulate it
Yeah
What a weird topic to rap about
But hey, we’re here, just one atmosphere
There ain’t no backin’ out
So get your crib retrofitted
Yeah, give it a wrap around
And get that energy transfer
Up the standards of Passive House
And Retrofit NY
And every city from here to Dubai
Either get with the emission reductions
Or hey, we’re all gonna die
So listen, Insulate Britain
Blockin’ the M25, I’m proud of you
People are dying around you
In homes with low R-Value
That R is Thermal Resistance
Each of us makes internal decisions
Whether to look away and give in
Or fully resist that pull of indifference
And it feels distant, I get it
Insulated from its effects
But every passing minute
You’re insulated less
So you gotta insulate it
Retrofit it, retrofit it
Gotta insulate it
Let’s go get it, let’s go get it
Gotta insulate it
Cut emissions, cut emissions
Gotta insulate it
Unsexy, unsexy
Gotta insulate it
Get your crib retrofitted
Gotta insulate it
Let's go get it, let's go get it
Gotta insulate it
Cut emissions, cut emissions
Gotta insulate it
Unsexy, unsexy
Repetition, repetition
Get your crib retrofitted
Let's go get it
Repetition, repetition
Unsexy, unsexy
credits
from Rapsode,
released May 15, 2023
Lyrics by Baba Brinkman
Produced by Tom Caruana
Additional Vocals by Isiah Dunkley
Guitar by Isiah Dunkley
Horn by Eli Asher
Keys by Sharla Funk