As for the use of alternative fuels, I was impressed when I heard that Tokyo used solar power. However, it turns out that the solar power they used was diverted from the city thereby leaving many residents to use electricity from the grid, which in turn created a greater burden on the system. The exact opposite effect this event wanted to have. NJ’s venue was praised for using bio-diesel powered generators for much of their needs.
NJ being the symbolic center of the whole day also incorporated bio-degradable materials used for food and other needs. Again, this is great, but a big pile of bio-degradable trash is still a big pile of trash. And while bio-diesel burns cleaner than a purely petroleum-based diesel, it still pollutes, just on a smaller scale. If you take the reduced carbon footprint of each venue and multiply it by seven, it’s still a pretty big footprint.
I still stand firm that there was no need to stage this event on such a grand scale. I truly do believe that a more effective and ‘greener’ way to get the word out and set an example would have been to ‘greenify’ all of the acts’ tours rather than adding this one rather large burden. Yes some acts like KT Tunstall have vowed to run a clean tour and others like Crowded House have been involved with the cause for years. I applaud them both.
I don’t want to take away from the message or the good intentions of Al Gore and his minions. After all, I consider myself among them. There is no denying that, whether you believe in Global Warming or not (and I really can’t fathom how those of you don’t), how we live directly impacts the world around us. Just like pumping your body full of junk food will make you sick, pumping the planet full of pollutants has the same effect on a larger scale. It’s not science … it’s pure, simple logic.
Thanks again to my friends Ziggy and Dave for turning me on to those acts and politicos that get it. These are people I can support. If you want to learn more, do as they told me … check out the Live Earth site. I am curious to see how far this will go. I remember Earth Day being a big deal once. This year it seemed to pass with a whimper. And in a way so did Live Earth when it came to the news media. I was shocked to see how hard it was to find stories about the event.
A weird example of how Earth Day was effective would be this; my railing against it inspired people of all sorts to email me. This in turn made me want to find out more. And even though what I found has not completely changed my mind about Live Earth, it has taught me a few new things. So there … I guess it did work to some degree after all. If only next time we can do it without clogging Routes 3 and 120 with smoke spewing SUVs; that is the dream.
