Live Earth: Relief effort goes global

Live Earth, by its sheer enormousness, will draw attention to the world's climate crisis.

NEW YORK - Live Earth is ambitious by any standard: the biggest names in music, playing for a 24-hour period across the globe, all for the cause of global warming.

But like 2006's Live 8, the global concert devoted to poverty in Africa, the mission of Live Earth is amorphous, its aim to "trigger a global movement to solve the climate crisis."

Whatever Live Earth's accomplishment, it will be difficult to measure. Former Vice President Al Gore, who partnered with Kevin Wall in founding Live Earth, believes the world needs to rise up as one giant vox populi to influence "a new political reality."

"The tipping point in the political system will come when the majority of the people are armed with enough knowledge about the crisis and its solutions that they make this cause their own, " Gore said.

Live Earth will send proceeds to the Alliance for Climate Protection, a nonprofit organization chaired by Gore. Wall was originally inspired to put on Live Earth after seeing An Inconvenient Truth, the Academy Award-winning documentary on global warming.

Extra concert added

Concerts are scheduled for Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.; London; Johannesburg, South Africa; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; Shanghai, China; Tokyo; Sydney, Australia; and Hamburg, Germany. A band of scientists will perform in Antarctica, stretching Live Earth across seven continents.

On Friday, Gore announced a surprise Live Earth concert in Washington. Gore said the all-day "Mother Earth" concert would be held on the National Mall at the National Museum of the American Indian - about two blocks from the Capitol.

The '7 Point Pledge'

Last week Gore and Wall mapped out some goals for Live Earth. They unveiled a "7 Point Pledge" that concertgoers will be asked to sign. Those who sign promise to pressure their country to sign treaties to cut global warming pollution, personally reduce carbon dioxide pollution and plant trees, among other things.

Part of the thrust of Live Earth is to communicate what consumers can do to minimize their impact on the environment.

On TV
- The Sundance Channel and Universal HD will air 22 hours of live and "best of" moments from all the concerts from 4 a.m. today to 2 a.m. Sunday.
- Bravo will air 18 hours of live and "best of" moments from all the concerts from 8 a.m. to 2 a.m.
- CNBC will air a seven-hour broadcast beginning at 7 tonight.
- Tonight, Telemundo will air a one-hour special at 7 and mun2 will air a two-hour special starting at 5. Both will feature the concerts' top Latin acts, including Shakira, Enrique Iglesias and Mana.
- NBC will air a special from 8 to 11 p.m. with highlights from all the concerts and live acts from Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J.
- MSNBC will broadcast special coverage throughout the day with live reports from the concerts at Giants Stadium and in London.

On the radio
- XM satellite radio will have live look-ins at all the concert venues on XM 40 and the concerts live on XM 41 to 46.

In the bay area
- Watch the concerts on three big screens from 11 a.m. today to 3 a.m. Sunday at the International Bazaar at Centro Ybor, 1600 E Eighth Ave., Ybor City. There also will be panel discussions and kids activities. (813) 241-8292.

Elsewhere on the Web
- To find out which artists are playing where, and for live concert coverage, go to liveearth.msn.com.
- www.BravoTV.com will feature live blogging about the concerts and tips on how to live a greener life.

[Last modified July 6, 2007, 23:35:39]