The celebrity politics of energy

Principle without self-sacrifice: Celebrities speak out on energy policy.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

What he writes:

“For They That Sow the Wind Shall Reap the Whirlwind... Now we are all learning what it’s like to reap the whirlwind of fossil fuel dependence which Barbour and his cronies have encouraged. Our destructive addiction has given us a catastrophic war in the Middle East and--now--Katrina is giving our nation a glimpse of the climate chaos we are bequeathing our children."

What he does:

"The Cape Cod wind project would be the nation's first-ever offshore wind farm and its largest renewable energy installation. But here's the snag: The wind farm would be located within 13 miles of [Martha's Vineyard]... These shores happen to be the summer playgrounds of the rich and famous, many of whom are wealthy Democrats who donate large sums to environmental organizations. Environmental lawyer Robert Kennedy, Jr. [is] a key figure among those opposed to the project."

"ROBERT F. Kennedy Jr., a noted environmental attorney, has a new cause: defending Cape Cod property values and yachting from a wind farm project in the waters of Nantucket Sound. His uncle, Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., may also weigh in against the project..."

Paul Newman

What he says:

"The most effective way to achieve greater security is to use less oil, period. That's common sense, too." "Consider this example: if the government set a 40-mpg standard we would save as much oil as we now import from ALL Persian Gulf states."

What he does:

"Paul Newman['s]... Volvo is no ordinary Volvo. It has a Cosworth race-bred V8 engine dropped into it. The engine in Newman's Volvo is the size of a small piano and makes considerably more noise... it pumps out 400 horsepower (about as much as a Ferrari)... Newman, who has been racing for 33 years, is about to drive a buggy over sand dunes and rocks at motorway speeds over part of a 1000-mile course which the fastest cars complete in just 16 hours."

"Paul Newman pitches car racing event... Race cars could soon be roaring down the streets of Philadelphia... Paul Newman stepped out of a stretch limo in the shadow of City Hall this afternoon, but by this time next summer he could be stepping into a race car doing nearly 200-miles-per-hour through the streets of Center City. “These cars are so aerodynamically built they will stick to the ceiling at 140-miles an hour,” said Newman."

"We said nothing on the walk across the parking lot to Newman's Volkswagen, the rear seat of which had been removed to accommodate a small block Ford V-8."

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The Sierra Club sends a car for Ms. Huffington. Sierra Club National Spokesman Eric Antebi comments on whether any of the Club's headquarters staff owns and drives SUVs. He said the group didn't keep track: It's "a personal decision," he explained. "People drive different cars for different reasons." (Commenting chores on this one left to: California Conservative, Generation Why, Woody's Woundup, BizzyBlog, Blogger Beer, Say Anything, The Political Teen, and Brainster's Blog.)

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We can't leave you in that frame of mind. Taking a more thoughtful, courageous, and (truly) progressive approach is the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies: "Spring 2005 has encouraged us to look at the nuclear energy option. We are not alone in this reappraisal of an alternative which has for many years been discarded by public opinion as worth no practical consideration. Whether or not the public, however defined, has changed its mind about nuclear is uncertain, but energy planners and analysts have, for various reasons, reopened their files and environmentalists find the need to make a balance between CO2 emissions and nuclear waste concerns." Will this effort earn the support of celeb energy policy endorsers such as Newman, Huffington and Kennedy, or will they merely continue their history of pointing fingers and imposing sacrifices on others which they cannot live with themselves?

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Thanks to Tom at NJ Weblogs, and to Michele Malkin, for links.

See also: Politics and energy

More about celebrities and politics, at Slate.

Categories: Technology, Politics+energy, Hypocricy, Hurricane+Katrina