Jul 05 2007

LIVE Earth Saturday: The 24 Hour Green Thing Concert

Al Gore sparked the match of awareness for us regular folks, putting us on that global warming is slowly cooking us like a tasty frog soup. It’s an inconvenient truth that’s disputed one week, “We can’t help it, it’s the sun’s fault”, screamed like biblical prophecy the next, “The tipping point has arrived.

The short take on the whole deal is whether it’s the sun’s increasing intensity or accumulated effects of man-made pollution, it can’t hurt to make a move to reduce our role in the global warming equation.

The question is always, what can one person do? That’s where government legislation comes in.

If new standards are set, say for all light bulbs to be of a certain type, no more of the regular incandescent light bulbs, then stores can only sell florescent. In that way millions of people who wouldn’t voluntarily use the bulbs would have no other choice but to help out. I hate florescent bulbs, that cold white hospital/office lighting, but that’s where some innovative 5th generation kid from the Edison clan steps in and creates florescent bulbs with a little more personality.

Through his two terms in office George Bush has done everything possible to avoid making changes to U.S. energy policies. It’s only within the last couple of months that he’s even admitted that global warming might be a problem. Yet he still hasn’t made any moves for real changes. The standard line being, it will hurt the U.S. economy.

Of course, searching for new ways to power our watt sucking appliances and gas dependent cars, and then having to replace them all with new ‘green’ models can only benefit those creating the new technologies. Which actually helps the economy. Well.. the new school economy. That’s probably who he’s protecting: the old boys and sheiks in the oil and gas industries.

In any case, as one of the main organizers behind Live Earth, Al Gore is sticking to the script..

Al Gore Looking for truth

“If we are going to solve the crisis, we have to commit, and we have to do it now,” Gore said.

“Live Earth will ask people across the world to commit to changes in their lives and to move other people, communities, companies and governments to reduce our carbon output by 90 percent by 2050 and ensure there is a new, global treaty on climate change by 2009.”

Live Earth will be a 24 hour music concert, 7000 events, in 8 countries.

Some critics and musicians have come out against the concert, saying those involved are being hypocritical because they regularly fly in private jets and cruise the streets in some of the biggest pollution spitting cars available. Not to mention the electric bill it takes to put on a 24 hour concert in the first place.

I guess it would have been cute to power all of the concert stages with solar panels.

“Look what we can do,” you know, until the storm clouds roll in.. *jokes* solar power is way beyond that.

Immediate power demands aside, the big idea is to increase awareness and ultimately make it ‘cool’ to be green.

And there are plans in place to recycle as much of the concert stage materials, billboards, etc., as possible.

BRAVO will have the most TV coverage of the concert(s). They kick things off on Saturday at 9 a.m., and let it ride til 2 a.m. Sunday morning. NBC will pick up on the festivities from 8 p.m. - 11 p.m. Saturday night. XM radio will also be in the mix, with the full 24 hours. They start broadcasting tomorrow at 9 p.m. eastern time.

At least one artist on your Ipod playlist will be performing.

Here’s the country by country rundown.