I was following the Live Earth concerts across the globe (click here for many pictures) and it was amazing how many people and countries participated: such as China, Japan, England, Australia, America, Brazil, Taiwan. MTV Korea contributed to Live Earth by running several specially commissioned Live Earth short films including Cough Cold and High Fever and Penguin in a Pickle.
As for concerts in Korea . . . well it sounded like this.
Though I hear Koreans gripe about the yellow sand from China and the pollution from China, I hear almost nothing about right here inside Korea. I do read statements like this though:
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. Vice President Al Gore slammed the United States and some other big polluters for forming what he called a sham global warming pact separate from the rest of the world.Those countries — including Australia, China, India, South Korea and Japan — must join the rest of the world in a new deal to fight global warming, Gore told Reuters ahead of Saturday’s Live Earth concerts aimed at raising awareness of climate change.
It would be good to see Korea creating its own solutions to these problems instead of being merely lumped into a group of industrialists that give lip service to environmental issues but have no real concern. While it is true that Korea is very materialistic in nature, there are limits that all people, including Koreans, should be aware of. Limits are useful because they help preserve what would otherwise be destroyed. Though one may burn down their house to get a treasure trove that lies beneath it, that money will be spent trying to replace what was foolishly destroyed since one needs a place to live.
I now hear that certain political interests in Korea are now trying to put on some sort of rock concert to promote the “development” of the land gained from the Saemangeum Project. (more here) This is not any good music to my ears and it speaks volumes about the level of awareness of environmental issues in Korea. It also suggests that nationalism has not progressed any further in Korea than headbands for slogans instead of rock bands for the preservation of what Koreans really possess — the earth beneath their feet and the air that they breathe. Without these things, there is no Korea.
17 Comments
Amazing how many people and countries participated?
http://timblair.net/ee/index.p.....stay_away/
The only global warming problem is the hot air coming from Gore’s mouth. What’s amazing is how one man can be so wrong:
http://www.suntimes.com/news/o.....0b.article
Yes, Live Earth, such a wonderful idea:
http://timblair.net/ee/index.p....._revealed/
Whether there is global warming or not, a dire need for increased attention and action from governments against pollution is needed.
It is a tragedy that South Korea is so close to China, IMHO, the biggest most blatant pollutant of all. Yet Korea does not do anything either, and frankly i dont anticipate much .
Self-congratulating concerts about “awareness” that the world is going to hell…brilliant.
Yeah, I know Michael but having a concert to help put hell here on earth is not cool at all.
I meant “brilliant” as in “stupid”
Check out the links WJS put up, it’s just ridiculous. One thing about living overseas is that it’s easier to see how massively spoiled people in the “first world” are.
As for Korea, it seems intent on building over every meter of the country with apartment blocks no one needs.
#1: Gotta love Tim Blair’s talent for skewering the global warming religion and its prophet, the Goracle.
I agree developed countries like Korea and Australia should do more than pointing their finger at China but I also think other countries should learn from the Koreans with their recycling.
#7…Sorry, but throwing a few things in the recycling bin is really nothing to get excited about. When I went back home last summer, my friend had 3 separate garbage bags (one for dry recyclable waste, and one for wet recyclable waste, one for food waste…and a bin for bottles, cans, and cardboard). Everything but food waste went to recycling. The garbage collectors check to make sure that the right thing is in the right bag. If it isn’t, they hand out a sizable fine. Oh, and all bottles and cans are consigned: 10-20cents, depending on size, and you get half back when you return them to recycling centre.
“but I also think other countries should learn from the Koreans with their recycling”
Yes, I am in full agreement here - I feel obliged to pay tribute to the Korean perseverance in this matter. The ROK is certainly at the forefront of progress when it come to recyclable materials…
Okay, Someguy, Canada maybe even better here, but the ROK is still quite good, better than most countries anyway…
Guys, recycling in Korea is penny-wise yet pound foolish. While it may be commendable, it is not a substitute for having comprehensive pro-environmental policies — policies that Korea needs badly.
There needs better education and incentive to take better care of the land and the resources of this great country.
Anything else is not enough.
Agreed, R. Elgin
Where I live in Canada you’re only allowed to throw out one bag of garbage a week and composting is mandatory.
Comprehensive policies to address larger environmental concerns would be nice, but I’m not convinced that there is even a sufficient level of civic pride to make even basic local level recycling programs work to their full potential.
Bucheon City distributed mesh recycling bags with draw strings several months ago. Ours went missing within a couple of weeks, and now almost everybody else on the block is back to stuffing the recycling into plastic Emart and Homever bags. I can only assume that the special recycling bags were stolen by people off the sidewalk or are now being used by residents they were issued to for the purpose of storing things in their apartments.
That proposed Saemangeum Project concert is warped.
Saemangeum is truly an act of pointless hubristic evil, and the failure to stop it says some pretty bad things about the SK society’s eco-awareness level and the prospects for ever slowing the rate of damage here…
Hey, WJS,
Tim Blair’s point is fairly moot:
yeah, okay, there were relatively few people watching the concerts televised publicly in Brisbane. Maybe they were part of the 2 billion watching on TV or online, and more so since the end of the concert, because they’re still available online. Sorry I don’t have the link but one prediction was more would watch actually after the event. The short, punchy clips or info. soundbites that do serve to raise awareness without painful preaching seem for the most part still to be embedded in the performances.
As for your link to that article in the Sun-Times by James M. Taylor of the Heartland Institute, a simple wikipedia read crushes any validity of anything he has to say:
James M. Taylor is senior fellow for environment policy at the Heartland Institute.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heartland_Institute
The Institute was a member organization of the Cooler Heads Coalition which questioned the impact of global warming and felt that climate control policies hurt consumers. The Board of Directors for the Heartland Institute includes Thomas Walton, an executive of General Motors Corporation.
Funding
The Heartland Institute receives donations from over 1400 individuals. No corporate entity donates more than 5% of the operating budget according to brochures from the company. [2]
According to Exxon Secrets.org , The Heartland Institute has received annual donations from Exxon-Mobil in amounts ranging from $100,000 to $200,000. [3]
[edit] Tobacco
The Institute has been actively involved in debate over tobacco policy. The Institute received over $150,000 from the Phillip Morris over three years from 1997 to 1999[4].
Hey, R.Elgin,
Thanks for the links to the update on Saemungum. I went there and took some photos in 2003. It was a beautiful place.
I’d be interested to know if there is any concert or any other Korean-run event to promote further awareness about the situation there.
But for your comment on Korea and the Live Earth concert: that article you quoted I think continues further on that Korea is one of only two countries in the world that has ratified both Kyoto AND joined that ’sham pact’ that Gore was talking about. I think if a country only signs up for that pact, it’s a very weak sign. If it’s signed up for both, that’s a stronger sign than only ratifying Kyoto. In the end though, they’re only signs. What the reality of the effort for the environment within any nation is a different question.
It comes back to grassroots activism and what’s happening at a local level.
‘Where the people lead, the leaders will follow.’