Live Earth underway

Submitted by R. Neal on Sat, 2007/07/07 - 8:16am.

Live Earth is underway, working its way around the time zones of the world. In case you've been away on vacation to Mars, Live Earth is a worldwide concert to promote awareness of the looming climate crisis.

Here's the media coverage/broadcast schedule overview. NBC will have a three-hour prime-time special from 8PM to 11PM tonight. XM Radio has live, 'round-the-globe 'round-the-clock coverage of "every note from every stage". Here's the artist lineup. MSN is streaming it live over the internets. XM 40 Deep Tracks has running commentary and channel guides.

The idea isn't to raise money for carbon credits or to end global warming overnight or anything like that. It's to raise awareness of the problem and the solutions, and to ignite a worldwide political movement to do something about it. Here is the call to action and the seven point pledge, and here's how to answer the call.

The 27% Dead Enders have been on a massive propaganda campaign to discredit the event, the promoters (especially Al Gore) and the participating artists. I'm not exactly clear on what their problem is, other than some pathological need to exhibit their incredible stupidity after having been proven catastrophically wrong about everything, day after day for six years and going now.

They have decided to be part of the problem instead of the solution on every issue from national security, civil rights, health care, to the environment. They are becoming increasingly irrelevant, and boring. It would be funny if it weren't for the damage they're causing.

The thing I really don't get is that whether you believe human activity is causing global warming or not, the benefits of reducing its effects should be obvious. It's good stewardship of the earth and our natural resources to reduce, reuse, and recycle. It's good business to invest in pollution control, alternative energy, and renewable energy sources, not to mention good foreign and national security policy to reduce our dependence on foreign oil. What's so hard to understand about that? Why do they hate America?

For everyone else who cares about the planet, national security, our economy, jobs, and the air we breathe, sign the pledge!

"Political will is a renewable resource." Al Gore

UPDATE: Live blogging at Left of the Dial...

UPDATE: Joe Lance, too...

6
vote

Roger Daltrey must be a

Roger Daltrey must be a dead-ender. I mean, he's against having a giant rock concert as a solution to climate change. From The Who front man:

"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."

I guess it gets some musical acts (and Al Gore) some feel-good vibes and press. Rock on!

R. Neal's picture
Roger Daltrey must be a

Roger Daltrey must be a dead-ender. I mean, he's against having a giant rock concert as a solution to climate change.

He never did seem very bright. Anyway, the concert isn't supposed to be a solution. It's a statement.

R. Neal's picture
P.S. Florida Governor

P.S. Florida Governor Charlie Crist is hosting California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as the keynote speaker at the Florida global climate change summit, July 12-13.

Link...

Last time I heard, they were both Republicans. Hopefully some others will show up. I look forward to Roger Daltrey's remarks on that event, too.

Wolfmother

The Bravo cable channel is showing very abbreviated performances (like, one song each act or something), and they just aired Wolfmother doing their "Woman" song. I don't care what Roger Daltrey says. That was good rock 'n' roll.

Last time I heard, they were

Last time I heard, they were both Republicans. Hopefully some others will show up. I look forward to Roger Daltrey's remarks on that event, too.

Well, if these folks take commercial flights and don't invite several hundred thousands in to watch the meeting, Roger won't be near as disturbed about the waste of energy. Plus, these folks can set policy as opposed to just 'making a statement'. But, you know me, I'm always keenly interested in the 'statements' of Madonna, Sting and others.

But defensive of the

But defensive of the statements of Coulter, Hannity and others.

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

Left Of The Dial's picture
SIRIUS too

Both XM and SIRIUS are providing wall-to-wall coverage. SIRIUS has up to ten channels dedicated to the shows and global warming information.

WhitesCreek's picture
The XM coverage is great

Checking out the China channel was fun but I switched back to the Brits.

While it is interesting to watch the "usual suspects" repeat disparaging things, I think of this event as a giant advertisement, to a huge worldwide audience, for action to correct a serious problem . Now that the scientific consensus is completely on the side of "Yes, we have a problem and we caused it," Live Earth is intended to build consensus for "Let's fix it!"

Each of us can do small things, but it will take governmental actions on a worldwide scale to save this planet.

The first thing we have to do is to ignore the folks who would let the planet die as long as there was profit in it for them. The only argument I heard this morning from the "Fair and Balanced" crowd was that it would cost too much money to correct the problem.

Was there ever a more immoral argument?

I am still amazed that there is a concert in China! The USA and China are the keys to everything.

Rock on!

Steve

Just wondering- was Al at

Just wondering- was Al at the No Nukes concert by any chance?

Well, if these folks take

Well, if these folks take commercial flights and don't invite several hundred thousands in to watch the meeting, Roger won't be near as disturbed about the waste of energy.

Isn't that actually the entire issue? If folks like your buddy Dick Cheney had got serious about alternative energy sources, cutting emissions, etc., there'd actually be a way to travel to a huge concert (or anywhere else) without unleashing tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

It's a first step. Why am I not surprised that the same people who've asked for seven years as a time frame for results in Iraq are being hypercritical about a series of concerts held on one day?

R. Neal's picture
Universal HD has coverage

Universal HD has coverage all day in HD and Dolby Digital 5.1.

Don't think it's live, though, at least not at the moment. Not sure what the deal is. Seems to be about an hour behind or something? Or is it selected performances?

Not sure, but it's pretty and it sounds good.

Factchecker's picture
And Who the hell are they?

Educating the world costs carbon, no doubt about it. Deniers of climate change burn a lot of carbon selling their fake science (really their political/religious/social agenda), so why deny investing a little carbon to those whose cause is backed by science and needs an informed populace to literally save the world? The argument that anyone who presents climate change is hypocritical and therefore wrong is illogical and getting really tiresome. Is that the best they can do? We all have carbon footprints. Yada yada yada. We can argue that again, but shouldn't have to.

Why not think of this as several local concerts, only linked up by relatively carbon cheap telecommunications? Do the Roger Daltreys of the world have a problem with music concerts?

FWIW, I don't know of anyone who thought Daltrey was a great singer. He was a lesser talent in that band. His remark, along with Townsend's inflated views of himself even after he was exposed as a pedophile, puts another nail in their coffin of relevance. They had a few nice tunes, but that's about it.

Andy Axel's picture
"Al Gore has a big house!"

This is just more spin on the same tired trope - "Al Gore has a big house!"

As if anyone who's cognizant of global climate change has to live like Wittgenstein in order to prove the point.

The Who ceased to be The Who the day that Keith Moon died.

Daltrey has been struggling with ever-increasing irrelevance ever since.

____________________________

I'm a guy in a Reagan mask -- and I'm running for President!

Andy Axel's picture
If Ashley Capps is lurking...

Hey, if Ashley Capps is lurking, I'd like to hear a little bit about the conservation efforts put on by Bonnaroo.

Found this on Grist about last year's commitment:

To reduce global-warming impacts, biodiesel generators powered all of the non-music stages, as well as the spotlights used at night and some of the golf carts zipping along the dust-covered "roads" between camping areas. 'Rooers were given the opportunity to purchase Cool Tags to offset their travel. In an area of the grounds known as "Planet Roo," a solar-powered stage was flanked by vendors selling organic foods and natural products, and booths manned by nonprofits ranging from national groups like the Natural Resources Defense Council and the World Resources Institute to advocates working on local issues like mountaintop-removal mining.

Then there was the eco-army dealing with waste: some 600 tons of it. Clean Vibes -- the official "pick up the mess organization," according to head picker-upper Anna Borofsky -- set up 2,000 trash barrels and 2,000 recycling bins throughout the grounds, carting filled bags to sorting facilities and composting areas. By recycling plastic bottles and aluminum cans, Bonnaroo officials hoped to divert more than 60 percent of the event's waste from landfills. An organization called WastAway will also contribute, by melting down and compacting 250 tons of the non-recyclable, non-biodegradable garbage into "fluff" that can be used for park benches and construction.

____________________________

I'm a guy in a Reagan mask -- and I'm running for President!

WhitesCreek's picture
"WHO" ever...

Is entitled to their opinion, even if folks like CBT are going to misrepresent the quote. Daltry is clearly in favor of attacking climate Change, he just doesn't want to be bothered with showing up at the concert.

It's a marketing piece and it's way better than a free t-shirt.

Speaking of t-shirts, I'm surprised at the number of anti Bush shirts making it to the tv screen...

"More trees, Less Bush" etc.

over fifty

I don't care about pollution. I'm an air-conditioned gypsy. That's my solution.

Know what? You can talk all

Know what? You can talk all the statements and policy and other BS you want. In the end there is not one damn thing that you or I or anybody else on this planet can do that will be the least bit effective in stopping climate change. Live Earth is a pathetic joke, creating more pollution in the name of "raising awareness". So drive your hybrid car and change over to flourescent light bulbs so you can feel good about yourself.

Link...

Link...

R. Neal's picture
Hey, just saw Rachel C from

Hey, just saw Rachel C from Knoxville scroll across the "pledge signers" screen. Was that you Gemini?

Oh crap, I was on tee vee

Oh crap, I was on tee vee and I missed it!

"If we want to revitalize our towns and protect our countryside from sprawling development, we should renovate our older schools, not throw them away."
-- Save Our Land, Save Our Towns President Thomas Hylton

Socialist With A Gold Card's picture
Me too

Mine was on there, too.

--Socialist With A Gold Card


"I'm a socialist with a gold card. I firmly believe we need a revolution; I'm just concerned that I won't be able to get good moisturizer afterwards." -- Brett Butler

R. Neal's picture
Cool. Socialist and Rachel

Cool. Socialist and Rachel are famous!

Saw a few names from Tennesse, Knoxville, and even one from Maryville. Alas did not see the Mrs. or me, but we were flipping back and forth between Universal HD and NBC (which is where we saw the scrolling names).

R. Neal's picture
In the end there is not one

In the end there is not one damn thing that you or I or anybody else on this planet can do that will be the least bit effective in stopping climate change.

Actually, there are dozens of things you could do. Right now. Check it out: Link...

If everybody or even half of us did even half of these things, it would make a huge difference.

But it sounds like your mind is already made up. You really ought to rethink that.

WhitesCreek's picture
Who you gonna serve?

I'm just askin', Shet...

Looks like you've chosen the "dark side" of the force so far. It doesn't have to be that way.

Go sign the pledge and try to help...or go away and let the rest of us do what we can.

WhitesCreek's picture
WhitesCreek

WhitesCreek

R. Neal's picture
Wow. Just saw Madonna's set

Wow. Just saw Madonna's set on Universal HD. Wow.

Macy Gray's on now...

R. Neal's picture
UHD is going until 2AM with

UHD is going until 2AM with highlights or something, but otherwise it's wrapping up and so am I.

Quite a remarkable event. It will be interesting to see some numbers tomorrow.

Try the streams

The streaming stuff has been great, given that I can run IE on a PC. (If you're on a Mac without Bootcamp/Parallels or are on a Linux box, you are screwed.) Nonetheless, they've been streaming all the concerts live, then starting over again and restreaming once the concert has ended. They're about to the end of the third go thru of the Sydney concert and just started the second go round of New York and Rio a couple of hours ago.

The interface is quite nice, allowing you to switch between streams with a click. There's almost no lag time, and you can see who is playing or coming up at each venue. Generally, there was enough time between artists (except in New York, where they really had the switches down) that I didn't even have much overlap of actual musical content. I'm sure that's changed now that they're streaming nine venues simultaneously.

Also, I think they're going to break out a lot of these sets for individual streaming starting tomorrow on the same msn site.

You really need to catch the full sets of some of these artists. DO NOT miss Spinal Tap, with all the bass players in the world, not to mention Stonehenge. (Although I was disappointed that the drummer made it all the way through the show. They couldn't at least pretend to kill him off?)

As for the travel issue, I note that with some exceptions most of the acts have been local to the country where the concert is taking place or near where acts were already touring. The Sydney show had all Aussie talent, I believe. Speaking of which, let me recommend the John Butler Trio, who stood out in good company in the Sydney show.

Overall, unless your native language is Japanese or some form of Chinese, the best show was London, though rap fans will prefer the New York show, and there was great stuff everywhere.

Andy Axel's picture
DO NOT miss Spinal Tap,

DO NOT miss Spinal Tap, with all the bass players in the world, not to mention Stonehenge.

Good god.


____________________________

I'm a guy in a Reagan mask -- and I'm running for President!

"Go sign the pledge and try

"Go sign the pledge and try to help...or go away and let the rest of us do what we can."

What exactly are you doing? In the great scheme of things? Nothing, that's what. Sure, I'll sign the pledge. While I'm sitting here in my big rig with the engine running and pouring pollutants into the air. That'll be a laugh.

Link...

Link...

I'd suggest another line of

I'd suggest another line of work. There's isn't a trucking company in America that isn't on the ropes and looking for ways to put your work on the rails.

Anyhow, say hi to all the lot lizards. Trucking is a miserable way to make a living.

True happiness is knowing you are a hypocrite. -- Ivor Cutler

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