Great points, Courtney. There was also the dissent among some famous types too…

See this story this story about how Roger Daltry of the Who said, “The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert.”

And then there was this one from the NYTimes, decrying green consumerism for some of the same reasons that you cite above Courtney. But it ends like this:

While I think more intense action is needed, imminently, I also think that we need to get as many people involved as possible, and for many changing lightbulbs is a very real first step that gets them thinking.

Nice responses. Courtney, I loved what you had to say. I too have felt a bit cynical about the farm-aid, live-aid, live earth endeavor, and this is something we have been discussing on this blog since its inception — what happens when green becomes “hip - cool - trendy.”

My hubby and I were singing “we are the earth…. we are consumers. we are the ones who make a greener day, so lets start spending.” Eek. For those of you who remember “We are the world” (blarrgh,) once stars get together and fire up the celebrity vehicle of hope, there is no stopping it. In reality, Bob Geldof and Live Aid did turn people on to the importance of famine and The Beastie Boys and the Tibetan Freedom concerts have turned people on to the concern for liberation of Tibet.

The reality is, hypocrisy is everywhere. Sitting on soapboxes and judging others based on righteous indignation has never accomplished much. There are those who have long dropped out who are living communally, off the grid. They grow their own food, they make their own clothes, and they don’t use automobiles. If you are not one of those people, then at some point you have to consume.

Education is key. The danger in generalized thinking about ‘consumers’ or ‘Americans’ or ‘Europeans’ is that dichotomous thinking limits people to stereotypes and loses the contextual reality of any given situation. The reality is, people’s eyes are opening to the severity of global warming. While I agree that the whole “been there, done that, got the tee-shirt” thing regarding corporate America’s embrace of all things green leaves a foul air, in truth, power can come from dissemination. As more businesses embrace sustainability, change spreads. There are aspects of the culture of convenience’s green-ification that mimic it’s favored practices. People may love to click a button on the internet, drop fifty on carbon credits and think “ahhh, I can fly to Aspen comfortably now” or they can buy a red tee shirt and think, “one more AIDS victim saved by moi” but Ideally, these consumer driven forms of social awareness actually make people investigate, educate and act. I know its naive to think that will happen, but one thing I have learned in the last twenty years of following environmentalism, is that alienating others through assumptions or preaching is non-productive.

I am not worried about Carson Daly not doing enough by simply unplugging his crackberry, because the bottom-line is, its trendy to think and that can’t be all bad. Personal responsibility is a huge factor in being environmentally conscious, and it’s a matter of progress, not perfection. Perfection would be elimination of all automobiles — using only renewable energy sources — perhaps a barter system in which people grow their own foods — trade necessities: a Utopia — or a post-apocolyptic world. Until the big wave comes, I guess we are going to hear pop singers chant about light bulbs.

The Daimler Chrysler smart fortwo is actually very eco-friendly. Everything from the materials that make up the car to the factory that built it is environmentally-conscience. Check out the website http://www.smartusa.com to read up on it. I can’t say for the rest of Chrysler, but the smart, which was th only car at the concert, is.

Having heard about Live Earth from friends, I feel that it is another great idea sold out to corporate interests whom as we know are hiding their true agenda under the veil of “greenwashing.”

I guess now we are supposed to feel all warm and cozy inside while breathing smog, drinking tainted water, seeing trash littered throughout the countryside, and contributing to helping save the earth by recycling our aluminum cans.

And from what I hear about the concert, although it was probably a good place to meet new people, didn’t really question the entire environmental contamination issue nor did it suggest new ideas to the younger Y Generation about their responsibilities to learn from their older, much wiser, environmentally aged elders. Instead it only focused on oil and coal as the main contributors to the greenhouse gases, and never even got close to private such as SUV’s and our air polluting mass transit system.

Then using renewable energy as a catchphrase, while misdirecting the participants’ attention, it suggests that nuclear energy is the savior as is Al Gore of our planet’s pollution problem. Nothing is further from the truth, and time will vindicate my critical soapboxing here in your blog.

As one of the comments suggests we need to educate ourselves about the reality of the problem, investigate those responsible and probably recommend to the US Congress that we need to amend our Constitution to be more environmentally responsible to the present as well as the future.