How green do eco celebrities have to be? There is an expectation in this culture that if celebrities talk the talk, then they must walk the walk and do so to the Nth degree. In fact, some people hold extreme viewpoints that eco celebrities all need to be clones of Ed Begley, Jr. who used to have a career in television, but now has a career as the poster boy for eco celebrities.
But, do all eco celebrities have to ride bikes to Hollywood premiers and put out products like Begley’s Best natural cleaning products? And, just where does air travel fit in? Most eco celebrities are not afforded the luxury of taking the John Madden express to do their jobs, so how do they get from point A to point B?
Al Gore travels the Earth, warning people about global warming. Is he expected to take a bus to Europe? How about Jay Leno who has a hydrogen car and an ethanol car in his garage, which is powered by steam? Jay also has some not so environmentally friendly cars in his garage as well. Do we totally disregard these eco types because they have not decided to drop out of society and live in a cave?
How many high profile people can avoid air travel, drive only electric or hydrogen cars, have their homes powered exclusively by solar or wind power? How many of us regular people can say that we do this, too.
The people who usually point out the seeming hypocrisy of the eco celebrities in falling short of a totally green lifestyle are usually not environmentalists themselves. The critics are the meat-eating, cigarette-smoking, gross polluting, Hummer-driving, non-recyclers who like nothing better than the sling arrows and barbs at those who are trying to live a greener lifestyle.
These are the same critics who have long said that global warming does not exist or if it does, then man has nothing to do with it. My take on it is to do the best you can. Live a greener life today than you did yesterday and eventually this world will be a much greener and bluer place tomorrow.
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