How Angelina, Bono, Gisele and Madonna Are Destroying the Planet

[katty]

more:
http://www.alternet.org/environment/141380/how_angelina%2C_bono%2C_gisele_and_madonna_are_destroying_the_planet/

The carbon emissions of Bono's band's world tour are equivalent to the waste created by 6,500 average British or Irish people in an entire year.

What if celebrity news carried its own version of a nutrition label? But instead of calories, or health risks, how about a label that gets at celebrities' impact on the planet?

Imagine if each time a tabloid or movie or TV show fed our celebrity addiction by running the image of Angelina, Bono or Gisele Bundschen, they also were required to put the celeb's eco-footprint in the corner of that image? If the tabs really wanted to knock themselves out, they could also run a kind of eco-ingredient list -- the number of hours the celeb spends in the air, the square feet of housing she owns, number of children he has, and so on.

It's an idea with real timeliness, if I do say so myself. A few weeks ago, uber-feminist Naomi Wolf praised Angelina Jolie's independence, symbolized by her ability to fly her own plane, without even mentioning that if every woman did that, we'd need a million planets worth of resources to support the human population.

[ipaint]

1. track the world’s wealthiest

“Most of the world’s emissions come disproportionately from the wealthy citizens of the world, irrespective of their nationality,” said lead author Shoibal Chakravarty, a research scholar at the Princeton Environmental Institute.

“We estimate that in 2008, half of the world’s emissions came from just 700 million people,” he added, noting that many emissions owe to lifestyles that involve airplane flights, car use and the heating and cooling of large homes.

http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/06/plan-floated-to/

[katty]

2. yes, that kind of lifestyle sets them apart from most, while they

preach to others how to 'clean up their act' - it is such a ridiculous, arrogant, POV it makes me laugh.

[ipaint]

3. It's all marketing.

Same with most philanthropy.

[katty]

4. yes-maketing is king

[Wednesdays]

5. K&R

:kick:

[Gregorian]

6. And the Olympics aren't exactly a small carbon footprint.

I find it very interesting that people are actually starting to talk the way I've been thinking for decades. I mean, I always thought it would never go further than my deepest and most private concerns.

I've often shaken my head at the Olympics as masses of contractors descend upon the next town, and begin the massive building up of sports facilities.

Like I've often said, the best intentions, the greatest activities are also some of the most destructive.

When Greg Hummer declared that Americans should hop on planes and race to France to see the excitement of the Tour de France as it develops, I literally flipped off the tv set. I was enraged.

And this kind of talk will alienate the best of associates. My mother wouldn't want to hear me talk this way. But this is the truth. We've reached numbers so great that we are beginning the need to curb our personal behavior. As the numbers grow, our freedom is curbed.

From firewood for steam power, to petroleum for internal combustion, to water for drinking and processing. I think the rate of increase in population is slowing, but that has little meaning, since we're already over the cliff. You don't talk about being careful after you step over the edge. You take on a whole different approach.

The reality is, these are small impacts on the environment compared to the little things that everyone does in multiplicity. That little commute by car. Everyone does that. Not just ten thousand Bono fans. Everyone. From Germany to Tehran to Wasilla. It's a comfortable disease.

[KoKo]

7. Everyone loves them...they give folks something...or they wouldn't be Tabloid Idols...

so what you say is unfair. Compare them to Corporate CEO's or WalMart staying open with all the lights and such. You analogy doesn't take into considerations so many others of us who help pollute our planet.

That said...they aren't my idols and I think Tabloid followers of the antics are kind of ignorant ...but they do provide something to people who follow them...and who am I to judge. :shrug:

[bertman]

8. It's not just the uber-wealthy, it's lots of ordinary middle-class and upper middle-class

Americans, Democrats just like you and I.

I have dear friends who are staunch environmentalists and liberals who fly all over the country or to Mexico or Europe whenever they get the chance. It doesn't seem to compute that they are contributing to the problems that they are so fond of railing about.

Human beings. Human nature. I just don't know if we'll ever change this behavior until it changes us.

[democracy1st]

9. Ok she's a about as foolish as those birthers