Answer The Call? That's Why I Have Call Waiting.

Preface: Last Wednesday as Melissa and I stood in the backyard to watch fireworks only to have a portion of the show blocked by trees, I mused - See, that's just one more reason you should vote Republican; we hate trees.

Over the weekend, we watched portions of the Live Earth concert.

I enjoy social awareness. Most of my views have been challenged, molded, and even shifted because of other's past and current social activism; more information is always a good thing and debate is not something to run from.

What I do not enjoy is political symbolism.

Years ago, I went to a high school football game with a friend. At halftime, the announcer asked all spectators to walk a lap on the track in an attempt to end teenage drinking. To the alarm of others around me, I remained seated. Yes, I could have participated to show my unity in combating this particular social ailment. But my participation would not have meant anything to a teenager the next time he was offered a drink.

That's how I felt watching this concert.

Much of the commercial advertising during this 24 hour, 7 continent event encouraged everybody to lessen their carbon footprint, become carbon neutral, and extend awareness of the environmental damage being done by corporate interests.

In getting out their message of ecoism, however, more waste was generated in holding the separate events that was otherwise necessary. The combined air travel to bring musicians to the various stages was nine times the Earth's circumference. The tonnage of carbon emissions for the production of this awareness campaign was calculated to be near 75,000 tonnes (by contrast, the annual per capita tonnage in the United States is around 20) .

The message is of such critical importance that even the messengers have trouble with compliance. The organizer of the event flew around the country in a private jet to bring a message of reducing unnecessary air travel. The final musical act, perhaps the biggest name in pop music over the past two decades, has financial interests in companies most reviled by the environmental lobby - Alcoa, Ford, and Weyerhaeuser.

When I listen and take advice from anybody about this topic, it's Daryl Hannah. Hannah has been off the grid for the past fifteen years. She has been arrested for peaceably protesting those who are not responsible stewards of the environment. She has strong beliefs, and more importantly, practices them in her daily life. What she doesn't do is martyr herself for her beliefs; she quietly lives her life, teaches an alternative, albeit extreme, lifestyle, and doesn't accuse those who disagree with her of leading a campaign of lies and distortion to destroy Mother Earth.

I remain slightly amused and greatly offended with the guilt trip extended by other celebrity enthusiasts of environmentalism.

Only get gas in the early morning or after dusk? Great idea - By convenience or design, I've been doing it ever since I started driving.

Re-use the same water bottle? Been doing it for years.

Picking up trash others left behind? That's the least I can do. I agree with no-trace principles so much, it was also my preferred method of dating.

I've been thinking about something I heard Joe Biden say over the weekend regarding other public policy matters: Don't let the good be an enemy to the perfect.

Still, I can't help point out the obvious contradiction of hybrid cars. While I laud the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions caused by an internal combustion engine, I can't help but notice the increased reliance on coal burning plants to generate the necessary electricity to offset the burden of the gas powered engine. Explain that one to me.

To be sure, my criticism is bi-partisan.

Most conservatives have forgotten the root word of their ideological movement. If Lincoln and Roosevelt saw what their party's leaders had not done to lessen the impact of our national economic interests, their personal methane emissions would be enough to bring an early heat wave.

The GOP platform in the last presidential election linked environmental protection to the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. (I wasn't aware conservatives knew any other amendment in the Bill of Rights other than the Second). The keys, they argue, to economic prosperity and environmental protection are embedded in privatization and deregulation (because that has worked so well in the past) and the invisible hand of the market place (ibid).

[I've noticed that liberals believe in -isms while conservatives believe in -ations.]

I don't presume to know what the ultimate answer is or how my lifestyle would change, if at all, even if it became known. I know what works for me and I'd like to think that I can pass on those ideas to my family. My shade of green may not be enough to hide in any wilderness, but I also like to think I'm looking after another generation other than my own.