Hold onto your hats people, here comes James Cameron on his white horse to save the day. This week, Cameron will be in Fort McMurray visiting the oil sands, or what he affectionately refers to as a “black eye” on Canada’s environmental record. In addition to the hot air he will be blowing at press conferences and the like, Cameron’s plan to fly to Fort McMurray will also have negative environmental impacts, like the approximate 0.56 tones of carbon dioxide produced by a plane flying from Los Angeles to Fort McMurray. In addition, Premier Ed Stelmach’s has announced his intention to make use of a government-chartered plane, which will take him from his previous scheduled visit in Ottawa to Fort McMurray in time to meet Cameron. So far, Cameron’s plan to save the world includes two short-term plane rides, one of which will cost Canadian taxpayers approximately 10, 000 dollars. Two green thumbs up for that one, Cameron.
While discussing Canada’s environmental track record, Cameron brought up the idea of “social responsibility” and while that is definitely something that we all need to be reminded of, it’s a lesson that hasn’t seemed to stick very well with him. Did the world really need Dances With Wolves 2: Blue Edition? That would have saved the world $280 million (and me a mind-boggling $17), a figure which comfortably exceeds the GDP of eleven countries. Instead of leading by example, Cameron’s lifestyle is only considered frugal by Imelda Marcos. His $3.475 million, 6-bed, 7-bath, 8,272 square foot residence in one of America’s smoggiest cities sits firmly in the category of opulent. He visited 107 countries while promoting Avatar, shaking babies and kissing hands while promoting a very one-sided sustainable lifestyle.
Here’s some advice for you Mr. Cameron: Next time, save us some eye-rolling and a chunk of carbon offsets by staying in Los Angeles.
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really? am i actually about to launch into a tirade defending James Cameron? has it come to this?
ReplyDeleteeverything celebrities do, in fact everything anyone does, can be measured in terms of how much carbon it cost. hell, just by googling Cameron's name i'm adding to the billions of CO2 emissions that google produces...roughly equivalent to dozens of flights around the world per day, just by clicking 'search'.
now, if by clicking 'search' i'm able to find statistics that back up the claim that the Tar Sands are indeed a black eye on our reputation as a country, should i refrain because of the CO2 cost associated with that research?
Cameron's powerful. people listen to him. if he can draw further attention to the problems with the Tar Sands by spending $10,000 of my money to fly up there, i say good on him. Yes, he's a jackass, yes he's a hypocrite, and yes, so are the rest of us, myself included. if it takes a couple plane trips to brow-beat the huddled masses into looking up from their smudged iphone screens for a moment or two, that's fine with me. at least this time he's doing something useful.
if he were flying to, say, the Bahamas, you'd have no story. People fly, flying is bad. But at least he's flying in an attempt to do something positive. far more positive than he's latest film offering, for which i carry an enormous amount of hate.
I was impressed by Cameron agreeing to take on financing the Fort Chipewyan court case - a pretty great move on his part. That said, he remains an unqualified loud-mouthed, misogynist who wouldn't understand practice-what-you-preach if it danced a naked rhumba on his face. Now that Cameron has come and gone, media attention has slowed and will probably trickle to a halt. If he is the best we've got great, fine, whatever.
ReplyDeleteNow excuse, I need a beer - my ten minute interview wrapped up after an hour and a half. Death.