Live Earth – We Was Robbed!
I am in a conundrum: I loathe hypocrisy, yet I may have to do something that is so hypocritical it makes me sick. I am ecstatic that my favourite band, Genesis, is going to tour again, not for the money, but for the fun (yeah, right). Got my ticket for Ottawa, dished out my 200 dollars (where’s the fun?), everything is honky-dory. However, now I learn Genesis is going to open, with a 20 minute set, the London Live Earth concert in July. If you know me at all, you’ll know that puts me in a very difficult position: I would like to watch it on TV, record it, and play it over and over again, but since it is organized by Al Gore, Cameron Diaz, and whoever else wants to jump on the bandwagon, and concerns the notion that humans are responsible for the incredibly minute 0.6 degree warming of the earth in the past 125 years, I’ll have to boycot. But I don’t know if I can.
Live Eath is billed as: The concerts for a climate in crisis, 7 Concerts across 7 countries in 1 day. First of all, I didn’t know the climate is really in crisis. I mean, a rise in temperature of 0.6 degrees in 125 years is not exactly what I would call a ‘crisis’. Apparently, forests will be on fire within the next 20 years. How hot does it have to be for a tree to spontaneously combust? 3000 degrees? At the current rate of temperature rise, that makes…. 3000 divided by 0.6 times 125… 625,000 years. Whoop-de-doo. I’d better run and turn off a light or two.
And last but not least: 7 concerts, with about 20 bands each, about 80,000 people each watching it live. Recording it, transmitting it. Billions of TV’s displaying it. How much are these concerts contributing in CO2? 140 bands flying in private jets, 560,000 people driving and idling to the venues. High power consumption for the music, recording, beaming up to satellite, beaming down, running cable stations, TV’s etc. etc. I think the combined CO2 emission number will closely resemble Al Gore’s energy consumption at his four mansions, it may even eclipse it. Oh, but that’s all right: he’ll plant some trees, and send some money to China. Thanks, that’ll save us.
You know what? I will boycot it. There. And I am extremely disappointed my favourite band fell into the Global Warming scare trap. Shame on you.

Copyright 2010 ERWIN GERRITS. All Rights Reserved.