By Sandeep Chauhan
Now that the afterglow has subsided, maybe it’s time to talk about Live Earth. I know I’m a sour kinda guy — more likely to rain on parades than join in — but really: what the hell was the point of that?
The Live Earth website seems kinda . . . vague. Here’s the mission statement:
Live Earth is a 24-hour, 7-continent concert series taking place on 7/7/07 that will bring together more than 100 music artists and 2 billion people to trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis.
Live Earth will reach this worldwide audience through an unprecedented global media architecture covering all media platforms – TV, radio, Internet and wireless channels.
While watching bits and pieces of the event — there’s only so much Fallout Boy I can take thanks very much — I noticed how much everyone was selling the green revolution: green cars, green clothes, hell, even green Big Macs (which are green but for a totally different reason); until Live Earth, I never realized how fighting climate change and shopping are so entwined.
It’s ironic (and a bit green-making) to see the biggest factor in environmental degradation marketed as our saving grace. Green-consumer — like military intelligence — is an oxymoron. Buying a green
product isn’t going to prevent the catastrophe, it just slows the train down a bit. We can’t buy our way out of this mess.
As much as I like to think everyone can make a huge change, without real dedication from government and corporations it don’t mean a thing. If Coke and Pepsi really care about environmental issues, where’s the green packaging?
Maybe the best way to affect climate change is to turn off our TVs during the next Live Earth concert. God knows we’re wasting a helluva lot of energy broadcasting performances by Bon Jovi.
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