A Cause For Attention
Some bands pick a platform, some tours take a stand - Here's music news that doesn't highlight the messenger, just the message.
This week's focus: Live Earth and...well, a whole bunch of people.
Some may remember the bizarre day that was July 7, 2007.
Televisions in hipster bars and coffeehouses were tuned to the coverage of Live Earth, a series of concerts (stamped with the face of Al Gore) that brought together more than 150 musical acts in locations around the world.
Broadcast to a global audience through radio, television, and the Internet, Live Earth was intended to call awareness to the beginning of a three-year campaign, the Live Earth Call to Action, combating climate change and advocating environmentally sustainable living.
The logo for the event was the Morse code distress signal, and presenters pressed the importance of climate change awareness and activism. Al Gore stated that the concerts would spread knowledge about how to help solve "the climate crisis" and that "the prospects for every future generation depend on us understanding, hearing and acting upon this information."
More than 500 media partners broadcast shows in over 130 countries. The long list of performers included Snow Patrol, The Black Eyed Peas, Duran Duran, The Red Hot Chili Peppers, Bloc Party, Metallica, Jack Johnson, The Beastie Boys, The Foo Fighters, KT Tunstall, Taking Back Sunday, Alicia Keys, Fall Out Boy, John Mayer, Madonna, Dave Matthews Band, Kelly Clarkson, Kanye West, Wolfmother, Linkin Park and Lenny Kravitz, to name just a few.
While the big names and big intentions are rightly acknowledged, did anyone take the message to heart? During the concerts, people were asked to sign their support to a 7-point pledge (see below).
To uphold their part in the bigger story, the Live Earth concerts were planned to be carbon neutral. Organizers stated that they would purchase "carbon credits" - a complicated economic trade of cash for greenhouse gas emissions - to offset the environmental impacts of the events.
However, the event seems to have been good promotion with very little true passion on part of many performers and attendees.
John Mayer is only one example of the numerous artists who did not sign the pledge - much better, arguably, than signing it without the intention of following through. "If you want to peg me as not being entirely eco-friendly, you'll win...We're just getting together saying, "We want to be healthier," he told reporters after his set.
According to CarbonFootPrint.com, the event's estimated total carbon footprint reached at least 31,500 tonnes - more than 3,000 people do in an entire year. Other ironies ensued worldwide. The BBC reported that concertgoers had left thousands of plastic cups on the floor of London's Wembley Stadium, even while being urged to use the recycling bins provided.
Can rock-n-roll help save the world? I still think so. Whether Live Earth was a good method to provoke real change is another question altogether.The Live Earth Pledge
I PLEDGE:
1. To demand that my country join an international treaty within the next 2 years that cuts global warming pollution by 90% in developed countries and by more than half worldwide in time for the next generation to inherit a healthy earth;
2. To take personal action to help solve the climate crisis by reducing my own CO2 pollution as much as I can and offsetting the rest to become "carbon neutral;"
3. To fight for a moratorium on the construction of any new generating facility that burns coal without the capacity to safely trap and store the CO2;
4. To work for a dramatic increase in the energy efficiency of my home, workplace, school, place of worship, and means of transportation;
5. To fight for laws and policies that expand the use of renewable energy sources and reduce dependence on oil and coal;
6. To plant new trees and to join with others in preserving and protecting forests; and,
7. To buy from businesses and support leaders who share my commitment to solving the climate crisis and building a sustainable, just, and prosperous world for the 21st century.
Posted by Leen Morrissey on Nov 15, 2007 @ 12:00 am
