Global warming is the hip new cause

Yesterday's (e)mail brought news from Environment Massachusetts (https://www.environmentmassachusetts.org/) of the upcoming Live Earth concerts on July 7. The event spans 24 hours and seven continents, with performances in China, South Africa, Australia, London, Japan, Brazil and the United States by a slew of well-known musicians. The calibre and profile of the performers makes me think that global warming has become a hip new cause, embraced by the arbiters of trend-making. To top it off, the concerts are being organized by the newly hip Oscar-winner Al Gore. Heck, if the formerly decidedly un-hip Gore can become the flavor du jour, then it follows that his defining cause should become the prominent movement of the moment. Personally, I revel in seeing the exposure (and accolades) visited upon Gore and the cause to mitigate global warming. After all, he's been pushing this issue for decades, and finally people (and politicians) are paying him long-overdue attention.

To quote Malcolm Gladwell's oft-repeated phrase, perhaps the transformation of Gore the too-smart-to-be-elected presidential candidate into Gore the hipster rock-concert organizer represents a tipping point in the global warming cause. It's a problem that's entered the public discourse and come July 7 will leap into the realm of worldwide exposure, aided by Gore and his environmentally-minded band of musicians. Visit the Live Earth web site (http://www.liveearth.org/) for concert locations, and if you can't attend in person, watch the concerts on T.V. ...and join Al Gore's hip new cause.