"Live Earth" is killing Earth

Concert series doesn't practice what it preaches

Anika Manzoor, Online Staff Writer7/16/2007If we don't think about it, "Live Earth" sounds like a great idea: celebrities from across the globe unite to spread awareness about man-made climate change and how detrimental it is to our environment. Let's face it, whether we like it or not, celebrities have a significant impact on the mindset of the average person. They are considered role models by many, their words have value, so when they say, "The world is in trouble, we need to save it," people are likely to listen. However, this message is deeply marred by the disturbingly huge amount of gas used and pollution expelled to put this event into action.

Matt Bellamy, lead singer of the British band Muse dubbed the event as "private jets for climate change," a sentiment shared by many bands, including Arctic Monkeys and the Who. Bellamy couldn't have hit the mark better. "Live Earth" concerts were spread out through all seven continents, which required over 150 performers and presenters to fly a total of 222,623.63 miles around the world. This figure doesn't even account for the various dancers, technicians, and support staff. And we cannot forget the audience of 1,268,500 worldwide, who certainly didn't walk, bike or use any other mode of environmentally friendly transportation to attend the concert.

What was more unbelievable was the main sponsor of the concert held in Germany was DaimlerChrysler, and the Smart car was the official automobile to transport stars. Greenpeace was outraged at this deal, claiming that finding a more inappropriate sponsor would be difficult. They stated that Chrysler has an average carbon dioxide emission of 186 grams per kilometer, although it has been an industry goal to reduce emissions to 140 grams per kilometer. Greenpeace also pointed out that the Smart car is hardly environmentally friendly, as its original purpose was to "transport two people and a case of beer."

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