And The Beat Goes On

The crazy antipathy between Al Gore and the more antediluvian Republican members of Congress continues in a new arena: Gore's Live Earth concert slated for July 7th in our nation's capital. The concerts will be held on that date around the world, and the US concert was first planned for the National Mall in DC...but that venue was already spoken for, so the organizers are currently looking at the west lawn of the Capitol Building. This probably won't happen either, thanks to these guys "nonpartisan" feelings:

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky last week objected to approving the resolution to hold the concert on the Capitol grounds because he and the Senate Rules Committee had not yet reviewed it.

Republican Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, a leading critic of Gore's environment efforts, opposes the move as well though he has not moved to block it. Individual senators can block legislation.

"Senator Inhofe objects to having any events on the Capitol grounds that are either highly partisan or politically controversial -- and the proposed Gore concert is both," said spokesman Marc Morano.

Inhofe has referred to global warming as a "hoax". Gore argues the world is facing a "planetary emergency" and wants an immediate freeze on U.S. carbon dioxide emissions

Okay, it's cool to sneeringly call Al Gore a rock star, or a movie star, or whatever makes you feel superior, but this is the only major public figure who is working his ass off to do something about what is truly the greatest crisis confronting the planet and all its inhabitants right this very minute. There have been international rock concerts for other crises, mainly the global hunger crisis (which is not incidentally a problem caused in large part by global warming and desertification, and how many people do you personally know still wearing the white bracelet (Live 8 concert) that was the emblem of that consciousness-raising campaign?

Global climate change needs just that kind of awareness and consciousness-raising, and these concerts will do that work on a massive international scale. The concerts are part of Save Our Selves (SOS) - The Campaign for a Climate in Crisis, an effort designed to trigger a global movement to combat our climate crisis. It will reach people in every corner of the planet through television, film, radio, the Internet as well as the Live Earth Concerts. James Inhofe probably does not get down with The Foo Fighters, but most of the young people I know do. These are the people who are looking at a future of planetary crisis, these are the people who need to have just this kind of wake-up call. How sad if the USA won't be able to host its Live Earth concert in that most symbolic of cities, Washington, DC. How fortunate any city will be to host this thing...it's going to be huge. I'm not a Red Hot Chili Peppers fan by any means, but how's that for a headline act for a concert to raise global warming awareness? Llink yourself up to the Live Earth.MSN site, it's a fairly amazing place with tons of information.

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