It Should Be Cold Again By Tuesday
Because I never take a day off from my efforts to save the world, I'm headed out tomorrow to stop global warming by attending the Live Earth concert at Giants Stadium in New Jersey. Because I can't do it all by myself, I'll be taking my wife and 80,000 of our friends. And of course, we'll probably take 80,000 different cars to get there.
The Al Gore-promoted concerts to raise awareness and combat global warming are taking place on all seven continents (yes, even Antarctica) and will feature most of the world's largest musical acts (New Jersey alone has Bon Jovi, the Police, the Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban, Kanye West, and Smashing Pumpkins, among others). With over 100 acts worldwide, and TV and radio viewership expected to exceed 2 billion people, organizers are calling it the largest one-day event in world history.
The event's biggest critic has been rocker Bob Geldof, who has called the event "pointless" and chastised Gore for creating an event "without a final goal." Said Geldof, "it's just an enormous pop concert." This is the ultimate in hubris to me, as most experts agree that Live Aid (Geldof's 1985 event) was indeed a really great concert, and a total philanthropic bust. They raised a ton of money, and had no idea how to utilize it in their efforts to combat African famine, and ended up giving what they didn't squander to Ethiopia's dictator who was using the famine as a way to quell civil unrest. It wasn't until Bono and the politicans got involved that Geldof was able to host a successful philanthropic and political event (2005's Live 8). But he's opposed to Live Earth, so at least we've got some controversy.
Anyhow, I am going not to assess the concert's carbon footprint (let's assume it will be large), nor to count the money coming in to the charities (let's assume it will be massive), nor even to measure whether my fellow concert-goers will undergo a fundamental change in their behaviors (we're all supposed to sign some pledge to be nice and burn less fossil fuels) as a result of the good music. I'm going because I was lucky enough to marry a Jersey girl and she deserves a day on the lawn to rock out to Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer."
But consider me your faithful correspondent for all things Live Earth. I'll check out those who are earnest, those who are lunatics, and those who just might do something so that our kids can live in a world where polar bears are real. I will be back early next week with a report from the frontlines.
The Al Gore-promoted concerts to raise awareness and combat global warming are taking place on all seven continents (yes, even Antarctica) and will feature most of the world's largest musical acts (New Jersey alone has Bon Jovi, the Police, the Dave Matthews Band, Keith Urban, Kanye West, and Smashing Pumpkins, among others). With over 100 acts worldwide, and TV and radio viewership expected to exceed 2 billion people, organizers are calling it the largest one-day event in world history.
The event's biggest critic has been rocker Bob Geldof, who has called the event "pointless" and chastised Gore for creating an event "without a final goal." Said Geldof, "it's just an enormous pop concert." This is the ultimate in hubris to me, as most experts agree that Live Aid (Geldof's 1985 event) was indeed a really great concert, and a total philanthropic bust. They raised a ton of money, and had no idea how to utilize it in their efforts to combat African famine, and ended up giving what they didn't squander to Ethiopia's dictator who was using the famine as a way to quell civil unrest. It wasn't until Bono and the politicans got involved that Geldof was able to host a successful philanthropic and political event (2005's Live 8). But he's opposed to Live Earth, so at least we've got some controversy.
Anyhow, I am going not to assess the concert's carbon footprint (let's assume it will be large), nor to count the money coming in to the charities (let's assume it will be massive), nor even to measure whether my fellow concert-goers will undergo a fundamental change in their behaviors (we're all supposed to sign some pledge to be nice and burn less fossil fuels) as a result of the good music. I'm going because I was lucky enough to marry a Jersey girl and she deserves a day on the lawn to rock out to Bon Jovi's "Living on a Prayer."
But consider me your faithful correspondent for all things Live Earth. I'll check out those who are earnest, those who are lunatics, and those who just might do something so that our kids can live in a world where polar bears are real. I will be back early next week with a report from the frontlines.
Labels: Al Gore, Bob Geldof, Bono, global warming, Live Earth
posted by Trent Stamp at 8:26 AM
3 Comments:
Maybe Geldof is critical of Live Earth because he knows (as an insider) how ineffective these concerts are compared to other activities.
I think it was an awesome concert, not sure what Geldof's problem is with it, raising money for a cause.. just spreading awareness about it, is worth doing.
I was most impressed the streaming video records AND the use of text messaging to interact with the live audience.
It's been the buzz at the Bridge Conference.
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