April 22, 2011

Earth Day





Time to trot out the celebrities and the politicians planting trees in the name of protecting the environment. Earth Day I think was only invented to let famous people hype themselves. Remember the old adage, "if a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a sound?" Well, in this case it should be, "if a celebrity plants a tree and no one is there to see it did it really happen?"

I worked in Television News for almost 15 years, still do off and on, and I can't tell you how many of these nonsensical tree plantings or garbage removal photo ops I have been to over the years. You have to understand one thing it's not like these people are constantly planting trees or picking up trash everyday, they do this for the 15 minutes that the cameras are there. They put on this little dog and pony show, to make you think that they actually care. Trust me, after they plant their tree or pick up some phony garbage placed on the road by their PR people they hop in their giant SUVs and head to the airport to fly home in their private jets. No one rides a bike to these events or paddles a canoe. Last I had heard it takes a lot of gas to fly big planes and drive big cars.

Why do they do it? Certainly in the case of a politician they want you to think that they are at the forefront when it comes to protecting the environment, but all they really care about is convincing you to vote for them in their next election. It's that way with every little rally and every little tree planting. I've been there, I've seen them. Next time you see one planting a tree in their own backyard without the presence of a camera will be the first time.



Lets stop this Earth Day charade and do something about saving the environment everyday. Have our elected leaders take the money buying shovels and setting up these photo ops and put it to good use like actually buying a tree to plant it. I will do my part to tell my kids what they can do to make a difference, only I won't make a mockery of the whole day.





John Willey - Daddy's in Charge?

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