Boycott Live Earth

The carbon footprint left by Al Gore's Live Earth concerts will be enormous.

From The Daily Mail:

The Live Earth event is, in the words of one commentator: "a massive, hypocritical fraud".

For while the organisers' commitment to save the planet is genuine, the very process of putting on such a vast event, with more than 150 performers jetting around the world to appear in concerts from Tokyo to Hamburg, is surely an exercise in hypocrisy on a grand scale.

Matt Bellamy, front man of the rock band Muse, has dubbed it 'private jets for climate change'.

A Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army.

The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.

The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists' and spectators' travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.

Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.

The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.

What a load! Literally.

A massive global event to raise awareness about the impact that human beings have on the climate while actually adding to the alleged problem is such a joke!

Organizers claim that the concerts will be as "green" as possible. Yeah, right. The concerts aren't going to be "green." Impossible.

That brings us to one of the biggest scams of the century -- carbon offsets.

...So just how does Gore claim that Live Earth will be carbon neutral? He does so by convenient use of 'carbon offsetting' - a trendy new method of absolving yourself of guilt.

Carbon offsetting involves 'neutralising' the emissions you are responsible for by buying 'credits'.

A spokesperson for Live Earth says: "This might involve buying environmentally sound lightbulbs for a Third World school, planting trees, or installing solar panels in a developing country."

A huge industry has sprung up to provide corporations with carbon credits.

However, critics say that the practice is simply a way for consumerist industries and nations to export their responsibility to developing countries. Others say it simply does not work.

Carbon-offsetting is, it turns out, how celebrities square green issues with their extravagant lifestyles and use of private jets.

Jon Bon Jovi has said: "We wrote a cheque, we took care of our footprint and raised awareness, blah blah blah."

When Gore - who himself spent eight years flying on Air Force Two - was asked if he had persuaded Madonna to stop using private jets, he said: 'Well, I appreciate and respect her as an artist and as a person, and there are many artists who are offsetting their role in contributing to the CO2 build-up, and I understand that.' A rather longwinded way of saying 'no'.

I love Bon Jovi's quote: "We wrote a cheque, we took care of our footprint and raised awareness, blah blah blah."

That perfectly sums up the idiocy of erasing one's footprint.

The "carbon-neutral" line is a lame attempt by celebrities and other gluttons to excuse their inexcusably exorbitant energy use and the inordinate strain that they put on the planet's resources.

In effect, Gore and his followers argue that while they're destroying the planet, they make up for it by doing something that is more earth-friendly to balance the damage that they're doing.

That's like Bill Clinton rationalizing that although he's having sex with Monica Lewsinsky, it's acceptable because he balances that out by having sex with Hillary. He has an adultery-neutral lifestyle.

This ridiculous "carbon-neutral" claim is no more than a cover for those with self-indulgent, eco-destructive lifestyles.

This "I pollute but then I do something to offset it" stance is just plain stupid.

Wouldn't it be better to cut back on the excess and do better than "carbon-neutral"?

Of course, it would.

...Dr John Barrett, from the Stockholm Environment Institute at the University of York, says: "There is a huge irony in flying halfway across the globe in a private jet, eating up fossil fuel.

"The idea that you can offset the pollution you cause is just ridiculous. What these people at Live Earth have done is defined their boundaries to suit themselves, but there is no sense in which this concert is carbon neutral.

"Planting trees or investing in renewable energy does not reverse the damage of releasing huge quantities of carbon dioxide into the environment.

"It is far better not to pollute in the first place. Carbon offsetting can be a removal of guilt, but it is not an effective one."

Exactly.

Carbon offsetting is an attempt to exorcise one's guilt demons.

It's a silly game and its players are exposed as self-deceptive fools, not good stewards of the earth.

I, for one, believe it's best to boycott Gore's Live Earth concerts.

Since the "concerts for a climate in crisis" are actually compounding the crisis, a good first step toward caring for the environment would be to take the pledge to shun the concerts.

Also, try to exhale less and cut down on your carbon emissions.