Gore Defends Critics of Live Earth

Conservative critics have, predictably, begun to attack the Live Earth concert series, which Al Gore has described as a "24-hour, seven-continent succession of concerts Saturday to draw attention to the threat global warming poses to the planet." (Madonna, Bon Jovi, Shakira, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers will be among the participants, many of whom have been personally lobbied by Gore to take the stage.) Among the charges against the event: it's nothing more than a grandiose exercise in self-promotion by Gore, the event itself will hardly be friendly to the environment, and it will merely preach to the choir. In his defense, Gore has insisted that he still has no intention of running for president, that the event "will set a new green standard" for the music industry, and that the majority of people already recognize the importance of this issue -- he's just trying to raise the level of urgency. He seems optimistic about the event, saying, "We'll get there [the appropriate urgency level], but this Live Earth series of concerts is completely unprecedented."