Won't Get Fooled Again

Roger Daltry’s not buying into the hype of the puritanical “Live Earth” concerts to help raise Al Gore’s stature, and ideally amongst the left, help to dramatically slow the economy by attempting to force Kyoto-style anti-business regulations down the throats of the US government:

JUST when it looked like every rock star on the planet was jumping aboard AL GORE’s green bandwagon, there’s a backlash already underway.THE WHO’s ROGER DALTRY has blasted the big Wembley gig Gore is organising to raise awareness of global warming.

The huge concert – which features performances from the likes of MADONNA and RED HOT CHILI PEPPERS – is taking place at Wembley on July 7 and in other countries around the world.

But Roger, who played with U2 at Live Aid and Live8, reckons the whole thing is a waste of time.

Speaking exclusively to Bizarre, Roger said: “Bo***cks to that! The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert.

“I can’t believe it. Let’s burn even more fuel.

“We have problems with global warming, but the questions and the answers are so huge I don’t know what a rock concert’s ever going to do to help.

“Everybody on this planet at the moment, unless they are living in the deepest rainforest in Brazil, knows about climate change.”

The rocker, who used to sing about my g-generation, added: “My answer is to burn all the f***ing oil as quick as possible and then the politicians will have to find a solution.”

(Via Instapundit.)

This will never happen of course, but I’d love to see an interviewer ask the participants at Gore Aid to take a pledge involving their touring and personal lifestyles, similar to the one that Gore himself recently rejected:

An interesting event took place during soon-to-be-Dr. Al Gore’s visit to Congress on Wednesday. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Oklahoma) asked the former Vice President to take a pledge that he would not use more energy in his personal residence than the average American, and Gore refused (video available here).As reported at the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works website: “Senator Inhofe showed Gore a film frame from ‘An Inconvenient Truth’ where it asks viewers: ‘Are you ready to change the way you live?’”

On the playground, one would call this “Put up or Shut up.” Do you think Gore put up? The press release deliciously continued:

“There are hundreds of thousands of people who adore you and would follow your example by reducing their energy usage if you did. Don’t give us the run-around on carbon offsets or the gimmicks the wealthy do,” Senator Inhofe told Gore.“Are you willing to make a commitment here today by taking this pledge to consume no more energy for use in your residence than the average American household by one year from today?” Senator Inhofe asked.

Senator Inhofe then presented Vice President Gore with the following “Personal Energy Ethics Pledge:

As a believer:

• that human-caused global warming is a moral, ethical, and spiritual issue affecting our survival;
• that home energy use is a key component of overall energy use;
• that reducing my fossil fuel-based home energy usage will lead to lower greenhouse gas emissions; and
• that leaders on moral issues should lead by example;

I pledge to consume no more energy for use in my residence than the average American household by March 21, 2008.

I wouldn’t have as much of a problem with Live Earth if it really were The Last Rock Concert by those who participated in it. It takes an enormous amount of cognitive dissonance to simultaneously believe that the planet’s ecosphere is soon to be doomed, but the solution is a blowout concert in two different football stadiums.

As Daltry told the The Sun, “I can’t believe it. Let’s burn even more fuel”. Each concert will require massive transportation efforts involving jet planes and tractor-trailers, hundreds of thousands of watts of electricity to power the lighting and sound gear, and the deforestation required to print at least couple of hundred thousand souvenir programs (and many more no doubt, for sale afterwards). And heck, just think of all of the methane emissions coming from the stadiums’ rest rooms, where, no matter how much the audience promises, the Sheryl Crow Rule is incredibly difficult to enforce.

But in the minds of its participants, a cause like Live Earth is worth it. But a generic, everyday, run of the mill concert shouldn’t be. So go out with a bang, rock stars–and then, don’t be hypocritical puritans; take the sort of pledge that even the Goracle won’t.