Twenty years after Hurricane Katrina devastated his hometown of New Orleans, Jon Batiste has released a new song urging action on climate change. The Oscar- and Grammy-winning musician described ‘Petrichor’, from his album Big Money, as “a warning, set to a dance beat”.
In an interview with Covering Climate Now, Batiste said the song’s title refers to “the scent of the earth after the rain” and highlights how “the natural life support systems of the planet are under threat”. With a refrain declaring “they burning the planet down”, the track calls for clean energy and political action: “raising your voice, and insisting, and voting the right people into office”.
Batiste noted that 80-89% of people globally want stronger climate action, citing the 89 Percent Project. He added that the pursuit of wealth is fuelling the crisis: “There’s a pollution blanket around the Earth ... The majority of the wealth is in the hands of only a small percentage of people, and it will inevitably corrupt the policies that can change these things.”
The musician, who comes from a family of activists including his grandfather David Gauthier, a union leader who supported the 1968 sanitation workers’ strike, stressed the importance of “people power”. His mother, Katherine Batiste, who worked in environmental roles for the US government, also participated in the interview.
