April 22, 2008, - 12:08 pm
Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do Day, Edition #38
By Debbie Schlussel
Every year on so-called Earth Day, it’s the same old, same old. Wealthy celebs who waste energy ad nauseam tell us not to. This year is no exception.
Later this afternoon, HOprah is bringing us Julia Roberts, Al Gore, and others to tell us not to waste energy. The thing is, all three of these people fly on private jets, wasting fuel and energy galore. And all three are in showbiz (Al Gore has that stupid cable channel no-one watches), where they waste valuable resources on lighting hairstyling, etc.
And Oprah and Roberts pollute the water with the globs of cosmetics and hair product residue they must eventually wash off and insert into our drinking water supply. Then, there’s the fact that all three own multiple homes and use a ton of energy to heat, cool, and otherwise comfortably live in them.
With Oprah’s mansion in Hawaii, her mansion in Montecito, California (one of the state’s largest homes)–not to mention her other properties in Chicago, down South, and elsewhere–and her private plane (she won’t fly with us little people), do we really need her telling us “how to live with less” (a show she did last week) and “how to be green and conserve energy” (today’s show)?
Then, there’s the USA Weekend insert, “ThinkSmart: The Green Issue,” in all of Gannett’s newspapers, today. The cover features Ty Pennington, who along with other hypocritical celebs, gives us 47 tips on how to save energy at home. “Earth Day Starts At Home,” the cover tells us. More like, “Earth Day Should Start in the Mirror,” for these frauds.
A friend of mine used to work on Pennington’s star vehicle, “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” He tells me that Pennington has a big, gas-guzzling town car and driver to take him everywhere in each home location town. He flies First-Class (an inefficient use of space on a flight and, thus, fuel) and stays in large hotel suites (again the waste of energy and space). With Ty Pennington, “Earth Day Should Start at Home . . . and Away on Location.”
Oh, and don’t forget all the 24/7 lighting, while they film the buildilng of the new homes on “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” “Earth Day Should Start on the Set.”
If Pennington and company were truly green, they wouldn’t light and film the building of the new homes. But then, there would be no show, and they wouldn’t make gazillions. And when it’s about them and their money, it’s okay to waste energy. It’s only not okay, when it involved the little people–you.
One other Pennington fun fact: He now has his own magazine. Lots of glossy pages polluting landfills.
Then, there’s Elaine from “Seinfeld,” Julia Louis-Dreyfus. Today’s USA Today has an article about “The Eco-Adventures of Louis-Dreyfus: Actress Practices What She Preaches.” Louis-Dreyfus, who comes from the wealthy Dreyfus Fund family and went to exclusive private schools, also has gazillions from her Seinfeld days and the syndication deal for its reruns. I don’t envy her her wealth. But I do think it’s a tad hypocritical for her to be giving a plethora of “green” tips, like ordering us to us to “never guy a regular bulb again” and “adjust your thermostat by a couple of degrees.”
She can afford the expensive bulbs and never in the article is there a mention of the square-footage of her giant Santa Barbara home. Even with her thermostat adjusted, the amount of energy she wastes to make her home liveable is likely equally to half a year of your or my energy bills. When she starts living in a hut or shoebox, then she might have a leg to stand on. Until then, taking her advice is like taking advice from George Costanza.
And don’t forget the amount of energy the lighting and building of the set of her moronic show, “The New Adventure of Old Christine,” uses. Since no-one watches the show, after it’s canceled, will she promise to recycle the set into a new energy-efficient toilet for her home? Don’t bet on it.
And it’s not just celebs that define Earth Day uber-hypocrisy. Mattel’s Barbie brand is putting out a line of eco-friendly accessories for girls, with scraps left over from making Barbie clothes. Hello . . . Barbie is made out of hard, non-biodegradable plastic that pollutes the environment. How many used Barbies with gnarly tangled hair populate our landfills? This is not about being “green.” It’s about Mattel squeezing more profits from its declining and underperforming flagship brand.
And finally, there are the “eco-friendly” events that often leave behind a ton of waste. Hmmm . . . that’s “green”?
It seems to me that the only “Global Warming” is the non-stop hot air we’re receiving from “green” celebs and other “Earth Day” hypocrites.
And that’s why today is the 38th edition of Do-As-I-Say-Not-As-I-Do Day.
Hardly a cause for celebration.
The word hypocrite doesn’t even do justice to these two-faced Lemmures.
Look dammit if I’m hot as hell in my room, I’m gonna turn on the AC. If I’m playing my X360 while talking to people on the internet..I’ll do it.
Anyone who believes Al Gore needs to be slapped…NOW.
Squirrel3D on April 22, 2008 at 4:22 pm