In July, dozens of pop stars will jet off to save the world via the Live Earth concerts, but who will save us from these ego-friendly celebs, asks Roísín Ingle (The Irish Times Weekend Review, Saturday, April 14, 2007)
Al Gores Live Earth was always going to spark a heated debate. In one corner we have the influential eco-worriers hooking up with canny popstar folk desperate to save the planet- or desperate, at any rate, to be seen to be saving the planet. In the other corner, the naysayers are busy pointing out that perhaps these ego-friendly popstars with their vast property portfolios, powerful cars and extensive shoe collections- Jimmy Choes rather than Birkenstocks obviously- may not be the best people to set a green example to the world.
This is a community who, let’s face it, would pop down to the shops in their private jets if they were let, so asking them to lecture the rest of us on our environmental duties is about as rich as Live Earth concert headliner Madonna. It’s no surprise that in some quarters the 24-hour musical extravaganza which will span seven continents is being billed as the smugfest to be seen at this summer.
The July concert, organised by Gore’s group SOS (Save Our Selves), will see 150 musicians taking part in seven concerts across the world in a bid to “trigger a mass-scale movement to combat our climate crisis”, according to the Live Earth website. (Every time you log on the website an ominous end-of-the-world drum roll is played, just in case you weren’t sure how scary this global warming stuff really is.)
The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Beyonce, The Rolling Stones and, naturally Green Day are some of the other acts on board, and it’s expected that the gigs will be beamed live to two billion viewers via television or the internet. Rumors that Paul McCartney will sing Here Comes the Sun have not been substantiated but, when it comes to global conscience-salving exercise, anything is possible
Between now and July we are going to be hearing a lot more from celebrities about energy efficient lightbulbs and compost bins and the like. At the launch of Live Earth, one of their celebrity spokesmodels, actress Cameron Diaz explained that her own personal planet friendly regime included driving a hybrid Prius, recycling and “carbon neutral travel”. Cammie was brimming with enthusiasm as she pointed out that the planet was, like, totally savable if people just changed their behavior. “We don’t need to build some giant machine that goes up in the air and sucks all the carbon into outer space,” she said. But what about making one for all the planet-saving celebrities?
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