Sunday, July 08, 2007

LIVE EARTH

Earth underwhelmed by environment pop extravaganza They rocked the world, but as the clean-up at nine climate change gigs around the globe begins, many wonder if the galaxy of pop stars did much to change it. U.S. and British media were generally underwhelmed on Sunday by Live Earth, the mega-concert organised by former U.S. vice president and green campaigner Al Gore, which, though built on the model of Live Aid and Live 8, created a less positive buzz. In Germany, however, newspapers were more upbeat about Saturday's gigs designed to pressure leaders to sign a new treaty by 2009 that would cut global warming pollution by 90 percent in rich nations and more than half worldwide by 2050. Organisers say that in addition to the tens of thousands of fans at the gigs, the television, radio and internet audience could be as large as two billion. Commentators noted the difficulty in marrying pop music with serious themes like the environment....
Live Earth's embrace circles the globe Live Earth, the confederacy of musicians who performed Saturday on all seven continents to highlight the issues of global climate change, featured superstars such as Madonna and the Police entertaining crowds in packed stadiums, but also parka-wearing scientists at an Antarctic research station whose audience included wandering penguins. Live Earth used the now-familiar template of concerts-for-causes shaped largely by Live Aid, the 1985 famine relief shows. But the 24 hours of music circling the globe Saturday used the Internet and high-definition camera technologies to create a uniquely 21st century event. Leading up to Saturday, though, Live Earth was also criticized by some for being too vague in its cause or for being a promotional tool for its cofounder, environmental activist Al Gore, the former vice president. The politician was given a rock star's welcome at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, where he was introduced by Oscar-winning actor Leonardo DiCaprio. In London, the Black Eyed Peas' Will.i.am premiered a new pro-Earth song that he said he recorded after an inspirational encounter with Gore at the Grammy Awards in February. One of the lines: "We got a new terror threat: the weather."....
A Giddy Gore Discusses 'Live Earth' Al Gore tried to rein in his adrenaline as the train churned between the two North American venues of his Live Earth concerts Saturday. Gore, the former vice president and environmental activist, rattled off the latest details of companion concerts on six other continents before catching himself. "I'm just so filled with enthusiasm and energy, I'm not letting you ask questions," Gore said in an interview with The Associated Press. Gore turned back criticism that the concert series lacked immediate goals beyond generally raising awareness about climate change. The concerts are just the first step in a three-year public relations campaign, he said. "I've been trying to deliver this message for 30 years, and I know that it doesn't take in just one delivery," he said. "You've got to keep going." The concerts will be followed by a global advertising campaign, with a particular focus on the United States. "The planet doesn't have a PR agent," he said. "But now it will, because the Alliance for Climate Protection is going to use the modern techniques of messaging to get the scientific evidence in front of people all over the world." Gore said he plans to return to giving his slideshows and training others to give the presentation about global warming after the concert series is complete....
Madonna criticised over links to polluters She provided the finale to yesterday's Live Earth concerts, even writing a special song to mark the worldwide musical event. But instead of being lionised, Madonna found herself accused of hypocrisy last night after allegations that she has financial links to some of the world's biggest polluters. The Ray of Light Foundation, a charitable fund established by the star to support her favourite causes and named after one of her biggest selling hits, has $4.2 million (£2.1 million) of shares in a string of companies including Alcoa, the American aluminium giant, the Ford Motor Company and Weyerhaeuser, an international forest products company. All have been criticised by environmentalists. Alcoa was ranked number nine on a list of all-time toxic companies drawn up by the University of Massachusetts' political research institute in 2002. Other companies linked to the foundation, including Northrop Grumman, the global defence and technology giant, and Kimberly-Clark, the huge health group, appear on the same list....
How Al Gore Screwed Sen. James Inhofe Over LiveEarth In March, when Gore was organizing the worldwide Live Earth concerts being held today, he envisioned one of the many simultaneous concerts being in Washington, right in front of the Capitol building. James Inhofe, the senator from Oklahoma who denies that global warming even exists, said he'd block it because there'd never been an overt political event allowed at the Capitol before, and he wasn't going to allow it now. Gore took the concert denial in stride and quietly made arrangements with the Smithsonian, specifically their National Museum of the American Indian, to sponsor a Washington concert under their auspices, to take place on the Mall, just two blocks from the Capitol. The surprise announcement only came this week, just 24 hours before today's Live Earth concerts. Inhofe has no control over what takes place on the Mall, of course, but he could have - and no doubt would have - made a stink if he knew that the Smithsonian, a federal institution, was partnering with Gore to get around the roadblock he'd threatened. Oh, and just who are the headliners performing at this last minute added concert in D.C.? Why, none other than the superstar Couple of Country Music, Oklahoma native and favorite son Garth Brooks and his wife Tricia Yearwood. Heh Heh Heh....
Backers hope Live Earth concerts spur policy change Madonna might be singing about global warming, but Hillary Rodham Clinton pledges she'll actually do something about it if elected president in 2008. Both will be sharing a global platform Saturday during Live Earth, a 24-hour concert extravaganza spanning all seven continents, to bring attention to the earth's changing climate. "As people gather around the globe for Live Earth, they draw attention to the clear choice that we face," Clinton says in a statement on her campaign Web site. "It is past time for us to act." Clinton will be joined by the seven other Democratic presidential candidates for a virtual town hall during the concert to discuss how they would address climate change if elected....
150 Acts, Two Billion Viewers - and an Awful Lot of Greenhouse Gas All this is hardly without its moral complexities. The Red Hot Chili Peppers will be flying in by private jet from Paris, the band's management confirmed, then leaving by private jet tonight for a gig in Denmark. The Beastie Boys must be in Montreux by tomorrow. Genesis are playing in Manchester tonight, as part of their Turn It On Again reunion tour. And an estimate calculated for the Guardian suggests that spectators traveling to the London and New Jersey concerts alone will generate approximately 5,600 tonnes of greenhouse gases between them - the equivalent of 7,270 people crossing the Atlantic by plane. You can, it seems, be part of the solution and part of the problem, at the same time. Even those watching online will find Live Earth's website is sponsored by the Chevrolet company, which manufactures SUVs. The rock group Arctic Monkeys said this week they had declined to take part in Live Earth, because it would be "a bit hypocritical". "Especially when we're using enough power for 10 houses just for [stage] lighting," said drummer Matt Helders. He added: "There's more important people who can have an opinion. Why does it make us have an opinion because we're in a band?"....
Gore Op-Ed WE — the human species — have arrived at a moment of decision. It is unprecedented and even laughable for us to imagine that we could actually make a conscious choice as a species, but that is nevertheless the challenge that is before us. Our home — Earth — is in danger. What is at risk of being destroyed is not the planet itself, but the conditions that have made it hospitable for human beings. Without realizing the consequences of our actions, we have begun to put so much carbon dioxide into the thin shell of air surrounding our world that we have literally changed the heat balance between Earth and the Sun. If we don’t stop doing this pretty quickly, the average temperature will increase to levels humans have never known and put an end to the favorable climate balance on which our civilization depends. In the last 150 years, in an accelerating frenzy, we have been removing increasing quantities of carbon from the ground — mainly in the form of coal and oil — and burning it in ways that dump 70 million tons of CO2 every 24 hours into the Earth’s atmosphere. As a direct result, many scientists are now warning that we are moving closer to several “tipping points” that could — within 10 years — make it impossible for us to avoid irretrievable damage to the planet’s habitability for human civilization....
Live Earth branded a foul-mouthed flop Live Earth has been branded a foul-mouthed flop. Organisers of the global music concert - punctuated by swearing from presenters and performers - had predicted massive viewing figures. But BBC's live afternoon television coverage attracted an average British audience of just 900,000. In the evening, when coverage switched from BBC2 to BBC1, the figure rose to just 2.7million. And the peak audience, which came when Madonna sang at Wembley, was a dismal 4.5million. Three times as many viewers saw the Princess Diana tribute on the same channel six days before. Two years ago, Live 8 drew a peak television audience of 9.6million while Live Aid notched 10million in 1985....

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