Friday, July 06, 2007
GARRETT SILENCED
Live Earth is underway! Lisa Crouch reports:
Oh cool, the Sydney show opens with an Aborigine set that is strangely moving. And moving strangely, as the stream isn’t… streaming… perfectly.
You can’t miss the symbolism though of having a native culture opening up a spectacle designed to remind us of the harm modern society has visited upon the planet.
And you can’t miss the symbolism of using modern technology to remind us of that harm. Although Live Earth’s technology seems a little clunky:
What appears to be Peter Garret from Midnight Oil is on the massive stadium screen… but we can’t hear a thing he is saying as the sound system took a bit to work out.
Open Choke is into it:
I heard that soooo many politician people have been inspired by what one man, Al Gore, has done for peace and humanity and things like that, that Obama is working on an “Eat for those that Can’t” eating contest to raise awareness of, like, hunger and stuff in Africa or wherever. You know, where people are hungry ‘cause they might not have cars and stuff to get to a store or to a Dennys and stuff. Any way, make sure to watch it on TV! I’m watching it on a big screen and be online with all my friends texting about it. And don’t forget to light your lighter in the cool anthem songs to show solidarity with the people who are getting hot!
UPDATE. Nice numbers:
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 ...
Throw in the television audience and it comes to a staggering 74,500 tonnes. In comparison, the average Briton produces ten tonnes in a year.
The concert will also generate some 1,025 tonnes of waste at the concert stadiums - much of which will go directly into landfill sites.
From the same piece, the Stockholm Environment Institute’s Dr John Barrett: “It would be far better for these celebrities to stay at home. Holding large concerts to highlight environmental concerns and cut carbon emissions just seems ridiculous. What planet do these people live on?”
UPDATE II. A spy inside the VIP enclosure at the Sydney show texts:
This concert is carbon neutral my ass!
Plastic cup use is apparently rampant.
UPDATE III. Canada’s Justin Wilson:
i’m all for live earth. it’s a great cause
but i can’t help thinking that maybe musicians aren’t the best medium. there must be some smart ones, but most of them come off as insanely stupid
Yes. Yes, they do.
UPDATE IV. Unhappiness:
The Live Earth concert being held at Sydney’s Aussie Stadium got off to a slow start, with crowds of people leaving the stadium after just a few hours, complaining of long queues and poor acoustics.
Echo Belposos-Ruffo was one of those leaving. The 26-year-old had flown to Sydney from Melbourne to attend the concert with friends.
I’m not sure Echo is fully alert to this whole “carbon footprint” idea.
UPDATE V. Notorious carbon hog Toni Collette addresses her followers:
"Thank you so much, it is heartwarming to see so many people here today in the name of going green, and in the name of very necessary change,’’ Ms Collette said during a break between songs.
"Just by being here today, just by turning up is helping to create awareness of this very life threatening situation.”
Not so, according to Climate Outreach Information Network founder George Marshall:
Live Earth also plays strongly to another powerful denial strategy: the adoption of minimal and tokenistic behaviours as proof of our virtue. One concern is that people will believe that their participation in the concerts is in itself an action against climate change.