Should We Care about Prince Charles’s Global Warming Themed Tour to Chile, Brazil, and Ecuador?

It’s beginning to become a perennial question I ask myself when a celebrity goes on an environmentally-themed speaking tour or does something “green” I’m supposed to appreciate.  Should I care?

This time, I woke up to read news about how today is the first day of Prince Charles’s South American environmental-themed tour. First country up: Chile. Among his activities he will participate in a round table discussion about global warming and also will attend a kick-off event for an energy efficiency campaign, all while along the side of conservation-credible Chilean President Michelle Bachelet. But the fun doesn’t end there.

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Next, Prince Charles and his wife Camilla head to Brazil, where Charles will give a keynote address in Rio de Janeiro about the need for the world to not lose sight of its larger problems despite shaky, barf-inducing sailing through the current economic storm (i.e., climate change/global warming, deforestation, rise of terminators, etc…)  And, wait… hold your breath… he’s going to say we need to ACT! Because our time is running out. <Yawn>

Finally, it’s off to Ecuador to visit the Galapagos. Because hey, you’ve heard of the place. It’s got big tortoises and funny looking birds, you know.

Alright, alright. Maybe I’m being a little hard on the guy. He’s already be criticized for the carbon footprint of his South American tour after all. As I’ve written before, probably the publicity from celebrities is a good thing if the conditions are right.

But is there anyone out there with me? I’m a conservationist, environmentalist, or whatever we are calling ourselves these days, and this type of celebrity publicity tour for the environment is making me bored. What would be better though? I need to think of an answer to the question. Any thoughts?

Photo Credit: @ly$ in wonderland on Flickr under a Creative Commons license

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