Live Earth

So Live Earth officially ended yesterday. After reading some various news articles here’s what I’ve been able to gather about the event.

–Australians didn’t get enough beer
–Johannesburg didn’t get enough people
–And it wasted more energy than needed

To put it in a word, it sucked. So far nothing I’ve read has indicated that it did what it was intended to do. Sure some people across the globe might have learned a little about global warming, but from what I gather the only thing to convince them that it was actually a problem, was not science, but rather the sheer fact that there were concerts around the world going on.

From an entertainment standpoint Live Earth was just about as exciting as CSPAN when congress isn’t in session. Besides Bon Jovi and Madonna, there were no big name performers, if anything concert goers paid $99 to stand around for nine hours and say, “Who’s this?”

From a environmentally friendly stand point it missed the boat as well. Even if some things were powered by biodiesel and attendees were transported to the venue by “green” buses, the event still would have produced less green houses gases if it didn’t happen. The question is, did it convince enough people to go “green”, to make-up for it’s use of energy. The acts traveled 233,000+ miles on planes to get there.

However the highlight of the whole darn thing is Madonna turning into a global warming activist. She wrote a special song for the event, yet could take time to cut down on her carbon footprint. That footprint is 92 times more than the average American. However a spokesman for her made it all better by saying that Madonna showing up to the event was the first step in her turning “eco-friendly.” Yeah right.

All I know is that I did my part by not watching the event. I turned off my TV, went out to eat, and walked around downtown Ann Arbor. I already know about global warming, I know the science, I know Al Gore has a self proclaimed Doctrine in global warming. If the only purpose was to raise awareness, then everyone who knew would have been doing the environment a favor by turning off their television sets.

And now the event has sparked a carbon tax bill by representative John Dingell. Dingell just happens to be the longest serving representative and he also happens to be from my district (he’ll be getting an email from me shortly).

But after all of the negativity about Live Earth, there is one positive note.

It officially ended yesterday.

–jb