On last night’s podcast, I read an article that said that this weekend’s Live Earth concerts would be “carbon neutral.” Carbon credits and carbon offsets would be purchased to see that the footprint for this effort to save the planet from climate crisis would be nil. Oh, and I said that was laughable.
The Daily Mail illustrates why better than any other article I have read:
The Live Earth event is, in the words of one commentator: “a massive, hypocritical fraud”.
For while the organisers’ commitment to save the planet is genuine, the very process of putting on such a vast event, with more than 150 performers jetting around the world to appear in concerts from Tokyo to Hamburg, is surely an exercise in hypocrisy on a grand scale.
Matt Bellamy, front man of the rock band Muse, has dubbed it ‘private jets for climate change’.
A Daily Mail investigation has revealed that far from saving the planet, the extravaganza will generate a huge fuel bill, acres of garbage, thousands of tonnes of carbon emissions, and a mileage total equal to the movement of an army.
The most conservative assessment of the flights being taken by its superstars is that they are flying an extraordinary 222,623.63 miles between them to get to the various concerts - nearly nine times the circumference of the world. The true environmental cost, as they transport their technicians, dancers and support staff, is likely to be far higher.
The total carbon footprint of the event, taking into account the artists’ and spectators’ travel to the concert, and the energy consumption on the day, is likely to be at least 31,500 tonnes of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of Carbonfootprint.com, who specialises in such calculations.
The idea that they can buy these indulgences to spend the weekend telling you how you need to change because the planet is in danger is insulting and elitist. Do as I say, not as I do. If you don’t understand or have never heard of carbon credits, the Daily Mail explains:
Carbon offsetting involves ‘neutralising’ the emissions you are responsible for by buying ‘credits’.
A spokesperson for Live Earth says: “This might involve buying environmentally sound lightbulbs for a Third World school, planting trees, or installing solar panels in a developing country.”
A huge industry has sprung up to provide corporations with carbon credits.
However, critics say that the practice is simply a way for consumerist industries and nations to export their responsibility to developing countries. Others say it simply does not work.
Carbon-offsetting is, it turns out, how celebrities square green issues with their extravagant lifestyles and use of private jets.
Jon Bon Jovi has said: “We wrote a cheque, we took care of our footprint and raised awareness, blah blah blah.”
The best way of describing it is to compare it to the buying of indulgences the Catholic Church used to allow. You can do whatever you want, as long as you send in your check.
Remember that when you find yourself being preached to this weekend about changing your lifestyle. Remember this too:
Indeed, an audit of the lifestyles of the A-list performers appearing at Live Earth, reveals that they are among the worst individual polluters in the world, as their world tours and private jets billow thousands of tons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere every year. One hour in a Gulfstream jet burns as much fuel as driving a family car for a year.
The Daily Mail has found that five of the top performing acts together have an annual output of almost 2,000 carbon tonnes. Madonna alone has an annual carbon footprint of 1,018 tonnes, according to John Buckley.
Remember, the average Briton produces just ten tonnes.
The hypocrisy shown here knows no bounds.
