Coming to a stadium near you (HT)

A series of concerts “bigger than Live Aid” is being planned for July, in a bid to put the subject of climate change before an audience of a global audience of 2bn. The event, scheduled for July 7, will feature co-ordinated film, music and television events in seven cities including London, Washington DC, Shanghai, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town and Kyoto, with major broadcasters and media owners aiming to extend the reach of public awareness of global warming. It is understood that former US vice-president Al Gore, whose movie An Inconvenient Truth brought climate change to cinema audiences last year, will announce the event tomorrow in London. The organisers hope to involve up to 2.5m people in events and link-ups at the cities involved, as well as other locations. They are promising a line-up of artists to “dwarf” that of the Live8 and Live Aid concerts, thought to be branded under the name “SOS”.

Our Brit friends and Climate Change Now get credit for starting (then stopping) this a year ago, by the way.

Think back a moment. Geldof and patriots burned gobs of fossil fuel to raise about $300 million for Ethiopian relief 15 years ago. Not an insiginficant amount. Some went to NGOs. A sizeable chunk went to corrupt governments and military juntas. Recreating Woodstock (a brief environmental nightmare in its own right) on a larger scale really changed Ethiopia, well, not much at all.

Here at home Willie and the boys have done Farm Aid concerts every year or so since then. They raise a couple million at a whack for farmers that are getting billions annually in subsidies.

For you people who accuse me of hating the atmosphere, tell me what a “bigger than Live Aid” event is actually going to do for the climate. Don’t feed me that “raise awareness” hokum; folks in a position (as they say) to do something about it are already plenty aware. How much of what SOSers take in must be spent on carbon indulgences CO2 offsets?

Here’s the inconvenient truth: SOS = A global church service with millions of worshipping faithful, resplendent with choirs, paying of penances, and heaps of fire and brimstone from a shiny-suited, sweaty, purple-faced Al Gore in the pulpit.

And plenty of passing the offering plate.

[Don’s other habitat is ]