by Tao Oliveto, Minneapolis, MN

HBO is not exactly Discovery Channel - most of the shows display decadent and destructive lifestyles above and beyond the rich and the famous. Still, we watch and they wink. But not without catching an opportunity to - occasionally - tell it like it is. Last season of Entourage included this exchange…

Nick: “Ninety degrees this time of year - can anyone really debate global warming at this point?”

Ari: “You should have thought of that when you took your dad’s G-4 to Jamaica last year.”

Nick: “You Try flying commercial with 12 pounds of ‘cush’. But those days are behind me, Ari.”

Ari: “The polar ice caps are grateful, Nick.”

Change is in the air(waves).

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

Well, Sami, my contemplation of Burning Man continues. And in the midst of it, he burned. The problem was that he burned too early - he was supposed to be engulfed with flames on Saturday night - NOT Tuesday night! What a tragedy.

Wait a minute - was this really a tragedy? After all, it was a special Full Moon with a rare lunar eclipse. In much less spiritual circles, this would be considered an energy-enhancing opportunity of nature. Maybe it was also a sign, a message or at the very least, a serendipitous event. Maybe, just maybe, they could have ‘Let The Man Burn’ and shared the fateful moment with new perspective and a new story.

Instead, they hosed him down, wasting not only the moment, but the desert-precious water supply that went with it. I can’t help but be slightly befuddled and disillusioned by this decision. Will the “re-lighting” feel the same or will it lose some impact? I can’t answer that question first-hand, but I can neither deny the inexplicable sadness I felt at the watering down of the Poor Guy.

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by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC

I recently read and posted about The Green Book, The Every Day Guide to Saving The Planet, One Simple Step At A Time. Released last month with several celebrity-endorsements and a shout out on Oprah, this book is the Live Earth of Hollywood. Co-authors, Elizabeth Rogers and Thomas M. Kostigen dig in with mainstream moxie. Rogers created and produced the eco-friendly MTV show, Trippin and Kostigen currently writes the “Ethics Monitor” column for Dow Jones MarketWatch.

The web site reveals that The Green Book also supports many non-profit environmental organizations, and provides a national resource guide. You can go here to learn more or buy the book - a must-read for every household and business.

The authors took time to answer some of my questions below:

TAO: If this book is a “starting point”, what are the next steps towards
change and how can this book take people in that direction?

TGB: My hope for this book is that it make green user friendly and accessible. That it reach a broad base of people that may not be aware of how easy it can be to start shifting a habit and how little changes can add up to make a big difference. With that sort of momentum this book will take us all in the right direction.

TAO: How and why did you choose the celebrities that are quoted in your book?

TGB: Any time that you can make your message part of pop culture you are bound to get more attention to your content. By adding 12 celebrities to the book it gives someone 13 different ways into the green book and once they are in there are over 400 solutions of simple shifts of habits that they can do on a daily basis.

TAO: Who do you think will read this book?

TGB: The book was written for everyone. It was set up to follow most of us through our lives and show us all how the little things can be shifted. I am a working mother and tried to start with my day and build from there, but with 12 chapters that include: home, entertainment, shopping, school, health & beauty, sports, business & finance, building, travel, work, communication & technology and going carbon neutral there really is something for everybody in this book!

TAO: What role does local and federal government play in helping people make
these changes?

TGB: I think that they play a crucial role. But if we were to wait for them we may find ourselves out of luck most of the time. Hopefully we will see more support coming from our government, but in the meantime it seems that we have to take matters into our own hands and that is why a book like this is so great. It shows people that they can make a difference. That they can start moving through their day making the shifts and making a difference.

Tao vs Sami

Sami says: A few days ago, Tao asked me for my opinion on Live Earth. She was writing a post on the event, and wanted to include some different perspectives. The post came and went, but as I hadn’t seen Live Earth, and was at best a little skeptical, it was difficult to comment. My initial thought was to write something on why I hadn’t bothered watching the show, but Tao was none too impressed by this approach. The resulting email exchange threw up some interesting issues, and we thought we would share an edited version with the world. It went something like this:

TAO: I ended up wholly inspired and impressed with the Live Earth broadcast last night! This COULD have a huge impact, after all! If you get a chance, Sami, could you watch and send me some thoughts for the blog?

SG: I’ll try and sit down and watch some, but I may not get a chance. Here’s my thoughts at this point:

I think it should be judged solely on how successful, or unsuccessful, was it in terms of moving us towards solutions to this massive crisis. Unfortunately, I find that hard to judge as I did not watch any of it. I guess that’s what worries me the most - despite, or perhaps because of, all the hype, I was left totally uninterested in seeing it.

The idea of so many celebrity musicians, only a few of whom I’d choose to watch at any other time, playing yet another ‘concert with a cause’ just seemed a little old fashioned and boring. What next, the climate change ribbon?

TAO: I had my skepticism, too, but realized it was not realistic to make any judgment until I actually saw it. [Ouch! Sami receives a severe blow from TAO’s ever sharp observations] And, what I saw greatly pleased and surprised me. It was not boring and it was not just another concert. They did spots between all performances, interviewing artists about their green habits and what changes they
were making. There were also brilliantly designed graphics detailing conservation tips. Really smart stuff!

SG: I guess I thought it was kind of relevant that the very idea turned me, and a lot of people, off before even seeing it. However well a concert is actually staged, if the audience isn’t inspired to watch, they’ll never know. If a tree falls in the woods…

[At this point Sami grumbles in resignation, if it’s possible to grumble by email, and agrees to watch some of the highlights]

TAO: From a marketing perspective, it is useful to notice why the “hype”
gave that first impression to you, me and some others, but I recognize
that humans - myself included - find it easier to simply go with first
impressions, and being cynical is sometimes sorta fun…..or, we like to
be on a “side” of an issue from the start, rather than do the analytical work.

[One day later...]

SG: Have just sat down and watched some of the show. I must say it looked pretty much like I expected. I’m still not against it, I just can’t really relate to it on any level other than it being a big celebrity ego trip/ hug fest. Madonna singing ‘Hey You’, with some of the most banal lyrics I have heard, somehow it all just seemed so shallow to me. And Boris Becker (??!!!) lecturing me on recycling - the less said about that the better!

I’m glad to hear that it affected you differently, and I really genuinely hope it will prove to wake a bunch of people up. I must admit that the info clips were helpful and interesting, and did transcend empty platitudes. I just also have a fear that the whole thing may help slot climate change in a convenient bubble of ‘just another issue’, rather than it being THE biggest threat to our existence. Didn’t we ‘do climate change’ last year? Spinal Tap was cool though.

TAO: I can’t disagree with your take on the what could be called “hype” at this kind of thing. Was it shallow? In some ways, yes! Was it ego-fueled? You bet. Was it a celebrity/groupie hug fest? Sure…

BUT, I wasn’t looking to be impressed and inspired myself as much as I was looking at it from an ipod/celebrity/Hollywood-obsessed, consumer-driven mainstream perspective and I do believe it was a successful campaign towards that end. Madonna is many things, but I wouldn’t call her or her lyrics shallow. In fact, she’s consistently explored controversial issues outside herself from racism to sexual identity to mysticism through both her music and her own life. And, well, anyone - even Boris Becker, who is willing to go on national television and talk about any green habit gets points in my book.

I don’t agree that this televised event will reduce the importance of this issue. I think it was done in a way that did transcend the green washing vibe that is out there in some mainstream places. And the fact that this was the first event of this sort that was truly and radically global will mark it in history and keep the climate change issue “on the front lines”.

At this point, Tao and Sami decided to agree to (kind of) disagree, post some of the exchange on the blog and invite others to join in the discussion. How do you feel about the Live Earth concert and its ongoing campaign to stop global warming? Let us know!

by Tao Oliveto, Carrboro, NC”

Are you alive?!” yells James Hetfield, lead vocals and guitarist of Heavy Metal band, Metallica, during the Live Earth show at Wembly Staduim in London, England. Of all the sincere, moving and musical statements made by the many performers worldwide yesterday, this one hit me hardest. Metallica - the world’s definitive “Crash” Metal legend heeding the call to Global Warming and challenging their audience to wake up - ? Our time has come.

I had my doubts, but the Live Earth Concert pulled it off - it brought together millions of people to confront, accept, take action and even celebrate an issue threatening every part of the globe - every person, animal, community and ecosystem. And it worked. The broadcast included well-designed and presented conservation tips large to small - from eco-conscious spending, to using less paper napkins to ditching bottled water (they probably even lost some advertisers with that last one).

The brief interviews with performers appeared unstaged and authentic. Dave Matthews was humbly and candidly honest. When commended by his interviewer for switching his touring bus to bio-diesel fuel, he looked down, shook his head slightly and said, “We’re a touring band, we’re still polluters.” The message was clear. We can all make a difference by changing our individual lifestyles, but we have to do more than that - we need to pursue big changes and we need to do it now. Overall, Live Earth makes it all seem possible.

An exclusive download of Metallica’s Live Earth performance is going to be available for a minimal fee immediately after the event finishes. All money raised will benefit four climate charities hand-selected by the band: Sierra Club, The Apollo Alliance, WWF and Rainforest Action Network.

Lars Ulrich of Metallica… “I love my sons. I want them to “inherit the Earth” FOR REAL! We keep waiting for future generations to solve the problems; to invent cleaner technology; to pay the costs…that’s the same as passing the buck. I want the buck to stop here, now. I want lawmakers and laws to impose change. Nothing else will keep this world safe for my sons.”
You can still download the show on and be sure to go to , sign the 7-step pledge and pass it on to friends. For more on