TRANSCRIPT
2007 07 09 / Glenn Beck Program / Mike Brune


BECK: Well, if you watched Al Gore`s Live Earth concert this weekend,
or as I like to call it, Crap-a-palooza, then you must have been
thinking what the heck is the carbon footprint on this thing?

Well, I`ve got just a few of the numbers. According to a London
newspaper, the "Daily Mail", the artists traveled a combined 222,624
miles to get to the various concerts. That is nearly nine times the
circumference of the planet. But I`m assuming they didn`t get there by
Prius. A lot whole of airplane fuel there.

Total carbon footprint of the event, likely to be at least 31,500 tons
of carbon emissions, according to John Buckley of CarbonFootprint.com.

The question is, would it have been better for the environment to, you
know, I don`t know, just like make a quilt out of hemp and just pass
it around or something?

Joining me now is Michael Brune, executive director for Rainforest
Action Network.

Mike, a lot of people, a lot of environmentalists, not just, you know,
typical skeptics like me, are saying that Live Earth, a little
hypocritical, seeing that Madonna has the carbon footprint of, I
think, it`s 14,000 people in the country where she adopted her
son. Did you find it a little hypocritical at all?

MICHAEL BRUNE, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK: No, I
mean, you can make some criticisms if you want, but I think that we
should probably be applauding these people who stood up and took a
stand to fight climate change and to make the country and the world a
better place.

BECK: So do you buy into indulgences? I mean, I`m sorry, not
indulgences, offsets.

BRUNE: You know, I think that offsets are probably a nice gesture, but
they`re more of a distraction than anything else.

BECK: Don`t you find them to be -- I mean, it was a Freudian slip
there to call them indulgences. I mean, that`s what the Catholic
Church was selling for forgiveness.

BRUNE: Yes.

BECK: Well, "You pay me this money and then we`ll forgive it." And it
doesn`t really change anything. I mean, is that -- as an
environmentalist, when you look at the list of the -- where is it, the
four things, the seven things environmentalists they ask you to do,
they ask you to change four incandescent light bulbs in your house,
shop for energy efficient appliances, shut off electrical equipment in
use, take public transport or car pool at least once a week.

There`s nowhere in here about vegetarianism or anything like that that
would make a real impact on the environment.

BRUNE: Yes, and I think that if there`s criticisms of the concert, it
could be that the focus could be on the things that matter the
most. But I wouldn`t criticize the artists who performed. I think the
most important is to focus on the biggest sources of greenhouse gases,
like cars and coal.

BECK: But see, you`ve bought into it. That is not the main cause. It
is animal gases that produces more than CO2 than any of the cars that
we`re driving.

BRUNE: Sounds like a bunch of bull to me, Glenn. I think that the
biggest source of greenhouse gases -- it`s a fact -- is coal,
coal-fired power plants. One of the points on the platforms is to
enact a moratorium on new coal fired power, which to me seems like the
best way to go, because we can produce clean energy, or we can save
energy and not produce any of the pollution.

BECK: Are you for nuclear power?

BRUNE: No. Of course not.

BECK: Well, of course not. I mean, it`s clean energy. Of course you
wouldn`t be for that.

BRUNE: Well...

BECK: France is 80 percent nuclear energy. I thought everybody loves
France.

BRUNE: It`s clean energy if you don`t factor in the threat of nuclear
proliferation or what a terrorist might do to a nuclear power plant.

BECK: OK.

BRUNE: The best way to produce energy is by saving it. And that way we
all win. We...

BECK: It`s saving it, it`s not producing it, Michael.

BRUNE: Right.

BECK: There`s a difference. We`ll talk about this some other
time. Thanks a lot, Michael. Appreciate it.

Coming up next, a story you`re not going to see anyplace else, gas
prices. Weird. Where did all the hype go? Why the national average
still is at $3 a gallon for no good reason. That`s tonight`s "Real
Story". Stick around.

BECK: Coming up, Cindy Sheehan in `08. Believe it or not, not comedy,
kids. May actually happen if Speaker Pelosi doesn`t start impeachment
proceedings against the president. Threats? Really, Cindy? What is she
thinking? I mean, I come up empty on that one, but I`ll ask somebody
who may know a little later.......

LOAD-DATE: July 9, 2007 
RAINFOREST ACTION NETWORK NEWS ARTICLE

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