Thom Yorke to save planet!

Radioheads Thom Yorke has put his name to an environmental project, working with Greenpeace to put pressure on the British government to cut carbon emissions and generally increase awareness of the problems of climate change. He is backing a law that will force government to cut green house gasses. Sorry, it's a tabloid quality news link. The first I stumbled on after a Google search..

http://www.itv.com/news/entertainment_460376.html

What do you folks feel about rock stars (prog or otherwise ) who get involved with politics of any kind? Do they do it because they really care, or are they cynically looking to raise their profile and appear more worldly and intelligent than they may be?

If it were not for organisations like GP or Freinds of the Earth do you think governments would be made to feel any responsibility towards the environment?

Do you approve of Friends of the Earth more than GP??

I am also cynical of BIG high profile organisations like Greenpeace, but I am considerably more cynical about the intentions of our leaders, and where their priorities lay..

Sweetnighter wrote: Basically, Yorke is a flaming socialist. If you're in line with his politics, great, if not, thats fine too. Personally, as one might gather for my incindiary labeling, I don't like his politics. They actually disgust me... but that doesn't bother me so much, really. What gets on my nerves is how he uses his musical popularity to publicize his politics. That annoys me to no end. Honestly, I love radiohead and I think their music is awesome. In light of having discovered other experimental and post rock groups, I don't think they're the best and overpopularized, but I still like them. Regardless, it really burns me up how he involves politics in everything. Really, almost every Radiohead album references 1984. Its a cool concept, but it gets old. Come up with something new for christ's sake! I think Greenpeace is just a tool of special interests. Realistically, environmental progress takes place in laboratories and universities, where people figure out ways to get things accomplished without destroying the environment, or finding ways to repair the already damaged environment. Marching in the streets over industry's gas emissions is insane. Factories are by no means the only pollutors of the air. I think most people are opposed to it anyway, since emissions standards hurt the economy and don't seem to make a sh*t of difference anyway.

I may share some of his politics, but to be honest I'm cynical of rock stars getting involved in politics period. Its interesting that only rock stars who lean to the left politically seem to get involved in anything political. Can anyone think of any 'right wing' or openly conservative rockers??!!

Indeed, its not just factories that pollute. Traffic pollutes, air traffic, households etc etc... The solutions are expensive and complex, and I am no expert, but what is clear to me, is that the well being of the planet as a whole should not be regarded as a left wing, 'socialist' issue. It affects us all regardless of our politics. It seems we're leaving it to our kids or their kids to sort out, or perish in the resulting sh!t.

I guess we've made ourselves slaves to money, and created a 'point of no return' situation. If thats not the case now, it will be before long IMO.

add Chris Martin of Coldplay alongside Thom Yorke.  I doubt they do it for the profile or to sell a few more records, they are simply socially aware.  Anyway, if you or I said these things about the environmental policy of a govt we wouldn't make the newspapers.  At least a "celebrity" can get their voice and the voice of the cause into the media and therefore the attention of the govt.  Look what Live Aid did or what Bono has achieved with his drop the debt campaign.  We need people like these folk to help push govt's in the right direction.

Any one who shouts out for the environment is a hero to me.  Think of future generations and the f***ed up world we are creating for them.  If the US get their way Alaska will be f***ed by oil drilling and the carbon dioxide emissions from that country alone with suffocate the rest of the world.

Does anyone else think that there is such a thing as a left-wing bigot (instead of the better known cousin "right wing bigot")?

In my opinion, a bigot is somebody who refuses to see anything in any other point of view but his/hers, and dismisses the views of others out of hand.

I feel that there are many people of a left wing nature who don't accept the views of people who are of a right wing persuasion. In my mind, that makes me wonder if they are in fact any better than those people of the right who occupy this mindset.

What do people think about this? P.S - I'm not implying that any posts here have prompted me to write this (in fact, it was a television programme titled "Living With The Enemy")