PrintMarch 2, 2007
Green commisars (updated)
The news of Al Gore's hypocrisy in paying his own company for "carbon credits" to offset his enormous personal "carbon footprint" may be startling, but upon reflection should not be a surprise. In the spotlight twice with his celebrity pals at the academy awards, one can gain some insight into Gore's Hollywood view of ecology by taking note of Cameron Diaz's MTV Show entitled Trippin (short for eco-tripping) which is dissected marvelously by Marc Maranoh here
In this program Ms. Diaz and her A-list celebrity friends literally drop in by helicopter for short visits to remote locations in third-world countries such as Bhutan and Nepal in order to marvel at the pristine natural environments and lament about the first-world's alleged eco-crimes. Whenever the impoverished denizens of these locales are noticed, it is to compliment them on their primitive lifestyle that is inherently "close-to-nature". Lack of indoor plumbing is notable only as occasion for adolescent humor. Being MTV, there is, of course, no uncomfortable discussion of the extreme poverty, lack of nutrition and healthcare, and unmet aspirations for a better life of the unfortunate natives. And of course the MTV cohort rides the helicopter out after a day or so to return to extreme VIP luxury in Hollywood, Las Vegas or Manhattan, luxury that is well-documented for their adoring fans in other MTV shows.
The extreme and blatant condescension on display by Ms. Diaz et al for her fellow humans is, of course, acceptable to her young fans because they feel they partake vicariously in her desire to preserve the globe for her celebrity-lifestyle. What probably escapes the audience is that she and Al Gore have an even greater condescension for Americans.
Gore et al want to drop in by Gulf-Stream jet to the hinterland of North America and dictate back-to-nature lifestyles for example by banning internal combustion engines. Not sufficiently intelligent to discern any connection between their own wealth and that of their fellow-Americans, they feel free to blithely proscribe carbon-taxes and other measures that will cripple the economy. What of their own duty to share in the pain and reduce their own eco-load on the environment? With a nod to George Orwell's Animal Farm, it would appear that in respect of duty to reduce the nation's carbon-budget, everyone is equal except that some are more equal than others.
Update:
Picture standing next to his private plane, super-rich environmentalist Douglas Tompkins is reported in this TIME article The "Ugly American Environmentalist" as saying:
Gore et al want to drop in by Gulf-Stream jet to the hinterland of North America and dictate back-to-nature lifestyles for example by banning internal combustion engines. Not sufficiently intelligent to discern any connection between their own wealth and that of their fellow-Americans, they feel free to blithely proscribe carbon-taxes and other measures that will cripple the economy. What of their own duty to share in the pain and reduce their own eco-load on the environment? With a nod to George Orwell's Animal Farm, it would appear that in respect of duty to reduce the nation's carbon-budget, everyone is equal except that some are more equal than others.
Update:
Picture standing next to his private plane, super-rich environmentalist Douglas Tompkins is reported in this TIME article The "Ugly American Environmentalist" as saying:
"Environmental problems arise from the mistaken notion that humans come first. They have to come second; this has not sunk in to the political and social leadership."
Somehow I doubt Tompkins or Gore or Laurie David place themselves second-in-line for any creature comforts afforded by the modern world.
