Tipper Gore: single again

Tipper Gore, who set herself up as an exemplar of What A Happy Family Should Be Like, has separated from Al.

Early speculation is that it's all, somehow, Ozzy Osbourne's fault.

Bono: Of course he's in Davos

Now we know why Bono is wearing those glasses: it's to hide the tears. He revealed the truth about his shame at a Davos conference:

"It's like being with an Irish priest. You start to confess your sins. Father Al, I am not just a noise polluter, I am a noise-polluting, diesel-soaking, gulfstream-flying rock star.

"I'm going to kick the habit. I'm trying father Al, but oil has been very good for me - those convoys of articulated lorries, petrochemical products, hair gel."

So, when Bono needs to confess about his carbon footprint, he flies to see Al Gore in America. Then he flies to Davos, to tell a conference full of other people who've flown to Davos, all about how upset he is.

Al Gore might be an eco-Priest, Bono. At least he's not a Whisky Priest.

Is Gore running?

John Gibson will be watching Live Earth very carefully indeed on Saturday, with a stopwatch and a notepad, waiting to see any evidence at all of political airtime being given to Al Gore and a presidential campaign.

Gibson, it's fair to say, would feel vindicated by the headline in the latest Spectator:

Live Earth is Al Gore’s campaign launch

That would seem to be a bit of a cynical misuse of what is meant to be a politically neutral campaign, using all these people's goodwill and time, which they believed to be being put towards a green future, as a launchpad for a run at the White House.

But hold on - James Forsyth's article under the eye-popping headline actually says the complete opposite:

So, is this all a prelude to a Gore presidential run? This would certainly be in keeping with the new politics. Barack Obama made himself a serious contender for the Democratic nomination not by doing the traditional rubber-chicken circuit and glad-handing local power brokers, but by going on a book tour. Fred Thompson, the latest candidate to enter the race on the Republican side, is running not on his Senatorial record but his performances in the TV drama Law and Order and various B movies. The stage seems set for Gore to scoop up the Nobel Peace Prize in October, and run as an Oscar winner and Nobel laureate rather than as a former vice-president.

But political insiders don’t think he will. They point out that even now Gore only comes in third in the Democratic field, trailing both Obama and his long-time rival Hillary Clinton. Larry Sabato, professor of political science at the University of Virginia and the pre-eminent poll-watcher in America, points out that still almost half of voters would not vote for Gore in any circumstances. Most importantly if Gore shed his cloak of celebrity and became a politician again, the normal rules would once more apply. He would be savaged for not practising what he preached. His earnestness would once again be the favourite butt of late-night comedians’ jokes.

So, erm, if he's not running, how can he be launching a campaign?

Gibson says 'vote for climate change'

John Gibson - who plays a newsreader in Fox's long-running drama set in a repressive right-wing future, Fox News Channel - is fuming that NBC is broadcasting Live Earth. Not because he hates Genesis - actually, we rather imagine that Gibson believes in the literal truth of Genesis - but because he believes it's political bias in an election year. Even although it's not an election year, and Al Gore isn't running for office:

In a commentary Gibson asks whether NBC's telecast doesn't "constitute a political contribution of free airtime? Do the people who want the return of the Fairness Doctrine think NBC should be forced to give equal time to me and let me argue against Al Gore? I don't think so."

Well, to be honest, John, if you think you should be given eight hours of airtime to argue that the climate isn't changing and that we need to burn more resources, perhaps you should go ahead and organise a concert.

Still, its good news for Al Gore - most of the criticism of the event so far has been coming from the left; people who know the world is changing but think this isn't the answer. It's nice that at last there's someone who it is easier to argue against.

Rice-Oxley rides to Gore's defence

The Live Earth concerts are coming in for a bit of a knocking, what with the idea of jetting a bunch of popstars to play to half-empty venues on the other side of the planet being a weak way of projecting an idea that we need to reduce, reuse, recycle. But the efforts are now being swung behind the idea that the environmental damage is incidental providing that the message gets across - cynics amongst you might note that a squad of people pushing that very line seem to be popping up across realistic blogs pushing that very line in comments boxes around the world.

Never mind that it's akin to suggesting that the best way to have promoted the idea of the blackout during the second world war would have been to build a massive electric light to flash on and off on the top of the Greenwich Observatory (because it doesn't matter that it contradicts the message, so long as the message is shared, right?)

Now, Tim Rice-Oxley has - appropriately - stood up to be counted for the misguided-but-well-intentioned:

"Live Earth is getting a lot of flak like all good events like this tend to," Tim told NME. "But you go to the middle of America and people are talking about it and hearing about it so it seems to be really doing the job that Al Gore wanted. We're really excited to be part of it as it's a really big show."

You'll notice that by the end of his own quote he'd even forgotten what it was that he was meant to be part of - not "as it's a vital chance to save the world" or "as it's an opportunity to add our voice against global warming", but "we're excited because it's a big show."

Victoria Newton: a staging post on the road to the White House

But for one vote on the Supreme Court, Al Gore would have been President. Instead, he's having to endure being interviewed by Victoria Newton. At great length, it must be said.

Yes, they've sent Victoria Newton to Istanbul to talk to the former Vice President.

On News 24's review of the papers yesterday evening, the guest reviewer suggested that the unlikely appearance of a long, rambling, pointless interview which "would bore the knickers off" the paper's readers was actually a signal of Murdoch accepting that the next resident of the White House might be a Democrat, and the delivery of a large interview with a senior figure is a signal of the business that they could do in the future.

Which is a fascinating idea. We presume sending the bumbling, starstruck Newton - a woman who can barely string together a thirty word nib on Beyonce's hair - was therefore a warning of what will happen if the Democrats don't accept the rapprochment.

Clearly, Newton is unable to believe that she's turned up on the news pages, and has turned in something midway between 'what I did in my holidays' and a hagiography:

Mr Gore hopes the shows will encourage people to change their lifestyles to help reduce carbon emissions and, more importantly, that politicians will listen and take action.

So I was intrigued to meet the man himself and see if he could convince ME to take a look at my carbon footprint.

My first impression as I walked into the room was just how tall and imposing Mr Gore is.

He has a booming, deep belly laugh, yet when he speaks he sounds like a gentle giant with his soft southern lilt. I found him immediately likeable, with a warm and friendly demeanour.

There's a but coming.

The only thing that was slightly off-putting was the orange make-up he had plastered on for the cameras (a look perfected by the ghastly Donatella Versace).

Clunk.

It's certainly the first time that Gore has ever been compared to Donatella Versace, that's for sure.

Still, while Gore might wince at Newton's style, he won't have a problem with the fawning regurgitation of his every utterance. Sometimes, as when Al responds to the criticisms of Live Earth raised by Bob Geldof, you find yourself wading through a transcript:

When I asked Mr Gore about the criticisms, he gave a robust response.

He said: “We will have specific goals that will be very significant and hard-hitting.

“We will announce those before the concert then emphasise them heavily during the concert.

“What Bob Geldof did with Live Aid and Live 8 was fantastic and he has followed up very diligently, as many of the others involved with Live Aid and Live 8 have. I’ve nothing but good things to say about them.

“These concerts would not be possible in any way without the pioneering and creativity of Geldof and those who helped him.

“But he has said in the aftermath of those efforts how important it is to have specific goals and a continuing follow-on effort and we have designed the Live Earth concerts in just that way.

“This one day, 24 hours long, will not only be a wake-up call for the world but the beginning of a multi-year campaign to organise an effective response to the climate crisis.”

The most important question about Live Earth - that it is, itself, going to have a huge environmental footprint and that it might be better for the planet to not fly Linkin Park to Japan and UB40 to South Africa is left unasked, and although Newton does at least think about the 'aren't these stars the sort of people who create more carbon than the rest of us' question, but it gets swamped in a sparkly eyed fawn over how clever Al is to get Madonna on board:

In a bid to recruit top-name stars to sign up for Live Earth, Mr Gore tapped up the Red Hot Chili Peppers when he presented them with a Grammy Award in LA in February. He travelled to London for a one-on-one meeting with Madonna.

He did such a good job convincing the Queen Of Pop she agreed to close the concert at Wembley. Mr Gore said: “My wife and I met her and we had a wonderful conversation and she agreed to help.”

Just one thing though . . . did he manage to also persuade Madge to ditch her private jets in favour of commercial airlines to help reduce her own carbon emissions?

I got an extremely carefully- worded answer in response.

Mr Gore said: “Well, I appreciate and respect her as an artist and as a person and there are many artists who are offsetting their role in contributing to the CO2 build-up and I understand that.

“The essence of this problem is that we live in a civilisation that has developed rather fully according to a pattern that emphasises the burning of carbon-based fuels.

“So making the shift to renewable energy is a challenge for everyone that will be a lot easier when governments around the world adopt the new strategies that will make this shift a lot easier to accomplish.”

I’ll take that as a “No” then!

A journalist, of course, would have asked a follow-up question there to actually get an answer with some content in it.

They give a separate page on the website to American politics, behind a link which promises:

Click here to see if Al Gore is going to run for President

Blimey. Did Victoria manage to get a straight ruling in-or-out from him, something which has proved beyond some of the sharpest minds in American journalism?

Of course not:

Mr Gore, who lost the 2000 election race to George W Bush, has so far refused to admit he has any interest in trying for office again.

But when I asked Mr Gore if he would consider going for the job, he replied: “I have not ruled it out entirely because I’m only 59, and 59 is the new 58, you know. But I don’t expect to be a candidate again.”

Good God, since she seems to think that he's never said before that, at some point in the future, he might just run again (he has, of course), if he ever does find himself on a ticket, can you imagine the "as I reported first" trilling we're going to hear?

But the real weakness in the feature comes at the start:

In an exclusive Sun interview, Mr Gore said: “The G8 have been meeting in Germany and the United States is throwing a monkey wrench in the efforts to get a consensus.

The planet is in distress and all of the attention is on Paris Hilton. We have to ask ourselves what is going on here?”

So, the woman whose day job is, erm, reporting on Lindsay Lohan and her ilk, and the man whose global warming concert is relying entirely on the power of the fascination with the likes of Madonna to spread his message are sitting in a room tutting over how the public are more interested in Pairs Hilton than melting ice caps. Whoever would have thought, eh?

Live Earth in South Africa: A long way from Devon

As if to help stress the importance of reducing, reusing, recycling, the Live Earth line-up for the South African leg of the global jaunt includes, erm, Joss Stone and UB40. Flying in from Devon and Birmingham, of course.

That'll help.

There was a rather good piece in The Times yesterday about the enormous credibility problem Live Earth is building for itself:

Live Earth is also having to field jibes about the embarrassing collusion of at least two of the performers at the New York event in the television advertising of gas-guzzling SUVs. John Legend is featured in a new Lexus commercial, while Sheryl Crow’s hit Everyday Is a Winding Road is helping to sell Sub-aru 4WDs. Such is the level of disquiet felt about Al Gore’s debut as a promoter of music shows that a pressure group in New Zealand, the Climaction coalition, is urging people to protest about it on July 7. In the past, the coalition has accused Gore himself of “greenwashing”.

And they're still planning on doing a gig in Antarctica for no reason other than the stunt value.

Darling, leave a light on for me

The National Grid has told Al Gore and the Live Earth organisers that they can't request people go and switch off their lights for a symbolic moment during the concert because, erm, they don't know what would happen:

A National Grid spokesman said they were "keen" for another symbolic idea.

"The organisers had this idea and behaved responsibly by discussing it with us," he said.

"We are used to dealing with surges in demand, as it happens every day around certain TV programmes.

"But it's very difficult to forecast exactly what would happen in terms of demand. We would have had no idea how small or large it would be."

We're sure that's what they're worried about, and not the thought that people switching off their electrical items for five minutes would cost them and other electricity companies hundreds of thousands of pounds of lost revenue if multiplied by hundreds of thousands people.

We'd like to suggest a symbolic idea for Al, though: How about we all turn our televisions off when Madonna comes on stage?

Gore blimey

We're not certain, but there's a gentle lapping of rising waters of desperation in Al Gore rolling up his sleeves to beg for participation in the Brazil part of Live Earth:

"I want to invite every person who cares about the environment in Brazil to come to the event here in Rio," he said.

Since the country is four and half thousand kilometres long and four thousand kilometres wide, you might think that the kindest thing for the environment would be for people living outside Rio to not make a massive trek across the nation, burning fossil fuels on the way. Gore threw open his invitation during a visit to Rio, part of a whistle-stop tour of South American capitals to warn the world against needless consumption of scarce resources. Don't worry, he made the journey in a coracle, powered by the burning of uncounted Floridian ballots.

Meanwhile, Bob Geldof has had a go at Gore. He's less than impressed with Live Earth, and not only because none of the seven nation's organisers have yet to offer him a slot to do I Don't Like Mondays:

"I hope they're a success," De Volkskrant newspaper quoted Geldof as saying in an interview.

"But why is (Gore) actually organizing them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about that problem for years. We are all (expletive) conscious of global warming,"

Unlike, of course, the African debt crisis, which was known only to fourteen sub-Saharan finance ministers and Bono and Bob prior to the Live 8 concerts.

"I would only organize (Live Earth) if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations," he told the newspaper. "They haven't got those guarantees, so it's just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage."

Unlike Live 8, of course, when the umpteenth minus one time Coldplay and Madonna got on stage had almost magical effects.

Geldof also criticized the former vice president's choice of the name Live Earth.

"It sounds like Live 8," he told the paper. "We're getting lots of responses from people who think we are organizing it."

Of course you are, Bob. And Peaches is having to turn down all sort of djing jobs left, right and centre.

If we were Al Gore, we'd invite the rump of the Boomtown Rats to play. Without Bob.

[Thanks to Joe for the tip on the Geldof stuff]

Gore: Global warming now homeless

Plans for the US leg of Live Earth have gone into into a bit of a spin as Mitch McConnell has raised an objection. McConnell has blocked plans to hold the event on the Capitol's grounds in Washington because he is a sore loser ("hasn't approved plans".)

It's a disappointment for Gore, although he's not going to have any trouble finding another venue for the event. It does, however, provide a timely reminder of why there's still work to be done on raising awareness of man-made climate change as being one of the biggest threats to our planet.

The Courier-Journal asked Mitch McConnell a direct question: does he believe the Earth is warming, and to what extent does he believe man is influencing the climate?

McConnell's answer was, well, vague:

"While there is not a consensus among scientists on climate change issues, I believe that we can find a common-sense approach to conservation that works to benefit all. The (Bush) administration has taken steps in the right direction by creating new initiatives and research programs that center specifically on reducing greenhouse gases, as well as improving conservation efforts."

(Scientifically, he's wrong anyway: there is a consensus amongst scientists on climate change issues.)

Opensecrets.org reports that McConnell received half a million bucks from the energy & natural resources industry last year. It's also worth noting that the oil and gas industries gave over fifteen million dollars to the Republicans in 2006.

Shea watts? Stadium lined up for green gig

The choice of revolutionary communist basketball park Che Stadium as venue for the American end of the Al Gore versus the oil industry event seems to be an open secret, although nobody seems to want to confirm it.

Interesting choice, Shea Stadium - apparently a perfectly functional venue for an international event, and yet not good enough for the New York Mets. While pop stars stand on the stage at Shea trying to persuade us to save energy and stop raping the planet, their landlords can pop over to Citi Park to see how their new home is coming on. Even as Al does his introductory speech, lorries will be hauling limestone and granite - quarried from a hillside somewhere, anywhere - to Citi Field. And, a few months after Sting has called for us all to reuse our plastic bags, Shea stadium will be taken down, generating more waste and burning through more fossil fuels.

Hold your eco-friendly gig in a disposable stadium. Curious idea.

It seems, by the way, that Save Our Selves has disappeared from the event's title: it's now Live Earth, the Concert For A Climate In Distress. Apparently.

KT Tunstall is annoyed with Gore

KT Tunstall is trying to gatecrash the Live Earth gig, waving her longlife lightbulbs and recycled notepaper in Al Gore's face:

"I'm trying to find out why I'm not on the list.

"It's not as if I'd be busy off-roading in my Range Rover."

Perhaps Al Gore just hasn't heard of you?

They'll destroy us to save us: Gore against the greenhouse

Tracking all the Live Earth posts - you know, like we did with Live8:

15.02.07 - Muse consider carbon footprint implications of Live Earth
19.02.07 - Kravitz, Jovi, Duran on board; "Actually, let us die" beg polar bears
26.02.07 - KT Tunstall clears throat, begs for slot
09.03.07 - The eco-friendly gig in the throwaway stadium
29.03.07 - Republican chases Live Earth from Washington
31.03.07 - Rolling Stones say they're staying in Rome instead
10.04.07 - Full line-up announced - 'stop melting, glaciers, or it'll be Madonna gurning at you' threat
13.04.07 - Toast the dying planet with champagne and fine wines
17.04.07 - Live Earth gets just 203,000 interested
18.04.07 - Ebay introduces levy
23.04.07 - Live Earth destroys "England's Rose"
25.04.07 - More bad news: Spinal Tap reunite
26.04.07 - Dave Grohl won't get naked with James Blunt in the room
08.05.07 - Australia mumbles out its line-up
14.05.07 - Bob Geldof wishes Gore luck, asks what's the point?
04.06.07 - National Grid insists electricity must be burned during event
18.06.07 - Al Gore spends time with Victoria Newton
26.06.07 - Canned Turkey, while SA leg moves
28.06.07 - Bush for Gore? Rossdale hints at reunion
29.06.07 - Macy Gray has a Brazilian
03.07.07 - Fly down to Rio, urges Kravitz's press team

Wednesday 4th July
Desperate attempts to get Macca on board at last minute
PETA complain about the hot air rising
John Gibson complains about NBC air time
5,000 extra seats for London

Thursday 5th July
Live Earth running order announced
40% wait for Live Earth to be inspired
Live Earth launch for Gore's presidential campaign, The Spectator doesn't say
Rio on hold amid crowd worries
International names leave Germans cold
Gogol Bordello dump T for Madonna
LA's Viva Earth pulled
Rio back on. For now.

Friday 6th July
Washington brunches to save faces

Saturday 7th July
Phil Collins is "just here for the music"
Environmental stars?
Getting under way with drums and Moyles
Phil Collins turns the air blue
Razorlight promise we'll have forgotten this all in 24 hours
Gray and Rice: together in the face of general indifference
Swearing and spoofing
John Mayer stresses how ego-free he is
Madonna does the tune from Holby City
Paolo: I shall make a difference and save the world

Sunday 8th July
The papers cover Live Earth
Live Earth on YouTube
Madonna makes vague promises about the future

Monday 9th July
3AM Girls save the world
TV audiences disappoint

Only Lenny Kravitz can save us now

Some more names have been added to the not-growing-that-fast bill for Al Gore's "let's save the Planet" gig. The line-up now features Snow Patrol, Bon Jovi, Paolo Nutini, Fall Out Boy, Black Eyed Peas and, of course, the apparently still reactivated Duran Duran.

We think we might have misunderstood the idea of this gig - we thought it was meant to be trying to encourage people to save the planet from global warming, but looking at the terrible bill, it seems more like Gore is trying to get us to be quietly relieved that sea levels will rise and we'll all burn to death after going mad from having to drink sea water. After all, compared to watching Lenny Kravitz lecturing us on using low-energy lightbulbs before launching into 'Are You Gonna Go My Way', being caught in a collapsing infrastructure as Gaia implodes will seem like a cakewalk.

Here come the saviours - they've got electric guitars in their hearts

We're not entirely sure that, well-meaning though Al Gore is, holding a massive series of gigs to try and save us from climate change is quite the best way to go about it. Still, nobody wanted to shout down his enthusiasm and so we're now looking at Live Earth on July 7th.

Muse might be on board, but they're at least aware of the inherent contradiction:

Frontman Matt revealed there might be a scheduling problem for the band, which could determine whether they take part or not:

"There's an issue. We've got a gig that same day in Ireland, so we need to work out if we can make it or not, that's basically what it depends on."

The band laughed off suggestions of 'doing a Phil Collins' and chartering a jet or helicopter to ensure they can take part:

"Private jets for climate change?! Not sure about that! That seems a bit on the edge to me. That's actually the issue to be honest, so we need to think about it."

If they really wanted to do something for climate change, they'd hold thousands of microgigs, just round the corner, that you could walk to, instead of seven or eight monster gigs that people will cumulatively travel millions of miles to get to. And we can't wait to see what sponsors get on board to pretend to care - what price "save the world - drink Coke"?