Nutini defends Live Earth

Before he'd even taken the stage, Paolo Nutini was declaring what a success Live Earth was:

"Some people are being cynical for the sake of it," Nutini told the Daily Star. "Of course the carbon emission will be high after the gig but the pay-off is lots of individuals and companies will want to make a change as a result. That's what's important."

Well, perhaps there are some people who would react with kneejerk cynicism. On the other hand, is it not valid, if one of the ideas of the Live Earth is to make people aware of our impact on the planet, for people to question the impact of the event?

And, more to the point, can Nutini explain clearly for us why some musicians playing songs would make a difference? We really, really don't understand why - when awareness of climate change is already pretty high - people who hitherto haven't seen the need to change their behaviour would do so simply because Paolo Nutini asks them to and sings four songs? Isn't this, in a nutshell, the arrogant heart of the event exposed?