Robert Redford is an eco-hypocrite, film claims
Source: UK Independent
Hollywood A-listers love to trumpet their green credentials. Guy Adams reports on a film-maker who’s out to expose them.
For years, they’ve preached green living while traveling the world in SUVs, limousines and private jets. But now Hollywood’s foremost tree-huggers face the prospect of being exposed as eco-hypocrites – in the very medium that finances their extravagant carbon footprints in the first place.
Robert Redford became the latest movie star to have his environmental credentials publicly ridiculed on film this week, when a hostile documentary was released in which he stood accused of failing to practise the environmentalism that he so vehemently preaches.
The short film, Robert Redford: Hypocrite, was released on Friday, via YouTube, to coincide with the closing days of his Sundance Film Festival. Depending on your point of view, it represented either a cheap hatchet-job or a stunning evisceration of a pioneering green activist who was once lauded on Time Magazine’s list of environmental “superheroes”.
According to the film, Redford recently sold a dozen plots of land near to the Sundance ski resort in Utah, which he owns, to developers seeking to build luxury homes there. The revelation is especially contentious because each of the sites sits on an undeveloped ridge, in what was previously wilderness. Ironically, Redford recently stuck his head above the parapet to lobby against a similar project in California’s Napa Valley, where he keeps a home. Mind you, the film points out, the nimby-ish actor did not stand to profit from the Napa development. The plots of land near Sundance, by contrast, fetched him around $2m each.
Full story here
And the video:
Let’s not forget Redford’s infatuation with Porsches. In a Playboy interview couple years back he said that issue was not negotiable.
Look to the etymology: from the Greek ‘hypokrites’, actor.
The same thing that happened to a fella named ‘Lot’ thousands of years ago would happen to anyone of us today in Hollywood. We wouldn’t be able to find 10 good men (or women) and we’d barely make it out of town with the clothes on our back. (Note: In case it does happen to you, put a blindfold on your wife’s eyes, she may also be tempted to look back.)
Popular Myths – (in decending order)
Actors are Real People (actually <2.5% are)
The Media Always Tell the Truth (actually <10% do at any one point in time)
Scientists Always Tell the Truth (actually <25% do this on a regular basis, there is just so much we do not know)
Eric,
All Jet engines burn fuel in the same way.
United is no greener than any other carrier.
Actors are entertainers and most of them are high school dropouts (this is a fact). Their entire career is pretending to be someone and something they are not, why anyone would be interested in their opinions is a mystery to me. It is so much more fun to simply watch them crash and burn because they are incapable of self control and living a normal life.
Photographic proof that Brad Pitt is saving the planet!!
mkelly says:
March 4, 2011 at 6:30 am
“My vote for biggest hypocite is Sir Branson owner of Virgin Airlines. If you honestly believed CO2 was leading to CAGW then shut down the airline. Does he not know that planes produce CO2?”
That’s what i commented in his carbon war room.
Attention: do not click on this link if you’re allergic to seeing the face of Sir Branson.
http://www.carbonwarroom.com/about/founders
Eric Anderson says:
March 3, 2011 at 8:45 pm
“Doesn’t necessarily mean he is being inconsistent. As for the United ad: first, big deal; second, maybe he feels United is greener than the competition, or some other reason. ”
No, he felt greener after getting some of United’s Green.
Nick says:
March 4, 2011 at 7:51 am
“All Jet engines burn fuel in the same way.
United is no greener than any other carrier.”
Actually, no. There are turbojets and turbofans. In subsonic flight turbofans are more efficient. Or at lower speeds, turboprops. There are also ramjets and scramjets. If United were to use a higher proportion of high-bypass-ratio turbofans than other carriers (I have no idea whether they do) then they could quite legitimately be considered “greener”.
Smokey says:
March 4, 2011 at 8:00 am
Photographic proof that Brad Pitt is saving the planet!!
Pitt doesn’t really deserve derision for this. He wasn’t behind it, it was a look-a-like contest in Copenhagen during the Copenhagen climate clusterflop. For the most part, Pitt has not shot off his mouth telling other what to do.
After making the movie “Seven Years in Tibet” he was being interviwed by Time magazine and was asked what China should do about Tibet. His response: “You shouldn’t speak until you know what you’re talking about. That’s why I get uncomfortable with interviews. Reporters ask me what I feel China should do about Tibet. Who cares what I think China should do? I’m a f—ing actor! They hand me a script. I act. I’m here for entertainment. Basically, when you whittle everything away, I’m a grown man who puts on makeup.”
Paul Birch says:
March 4, 2011 at 9:47 am
Almost all commercial planes now use high bypass ratio turbofans for the simple reason that they are more efficient and hence better for the bottom line.
Nick, Paul Birch, Billy Liar:
Good comments all.
The point is simply that doing a United add does not in and of itself mean Redford is a hypocrite. Did Redford say airlines are evil and destroying the planet? Did he say people shouldn’t fly? If so, then he is a hypocrite. If not, they are grasping at straws.
Again, Redford may be the worst of the lot, I don’t know, but the film sure didn’t provide any details to support the “hypocrite” allegation. I’m willing to speak up against nonsense from the CAGW crowd; I’m also willing to point out when someone with a skeptical take is making vague, unsubstantiated, over-the-top insinuations. Doesn’t help the cause.
Philip Finck says:
March 4, 2011 at 6:10 am
Sort of like politicians that push crime and justice to get elected and are then found cheating on their income tax, taking bribes, using their influence for illegal personal gain……..
=Obama’s cabinet
Ray Downing. I believe the underlying etymology of hypocrite is υπερ and κριτής,
meaning “false judge”
Yeah well.
What did you expect?
Actors are people who can hold two things similtaneously and not get mixed up with which place they are at.
They live their lifes in the real world.
They act (often extraordinarily well) in a fantacy world and believe in it, as long as the acting requires it.
One day – a preacher – the next a mass murderer – easy for those with the skills.
The thing is, to be a good actor you must believe in the part that you play.
So believing in the need to combat so called global warming and living the life of a high flying CO2 emitter comes naturally.
They get all the good vibes by “talking the talk” and get all the good feelings by walking or rather flying and driving, a quite different walk.
You should not expect anything different from great actors.
Split personality is a job prerequisite.
Jon P says:
Sort of like politicians that push crime and justice to get elected and are then found cheating on their income tax, taking bribes, using their influence for illegal personal gain……..
=Obama’s cabinet
The Democrats are not traditionally seen as the “law and order” party. Generally the right wing stresses punishment, whereas the left is derided for being “soft”.
You’ll struggle to prove the Democratic politicians more hypocritical than the Republican ones too. You are on the wrong track – you could say you are “hiking the Appalachian trails”.
Nice attempt to turn a discussion party political when it didn’t need to be though.
So, the gist of this story is that this actor uses his influence to block development in an area where he is impacted, but sells mountaintop real estate to big development in a place where he won’t have to see his view impinged.
Sort of tastes like dual agency disclosure but with a bizzare twist somewhere in the DNA chain.
C’mon, take the money and run.
Double Standard at it’s finest.
Eric Anderson says:
March 3, 2011 at 10:50 pm
Hi Eric,
I don’t want to argue with you. You’re probably a cool guy.
BTW2, just curious about your screen name. Would you mind sharing why you chose it? I’m just curious.
I used to change ID’s a lot because I’d get bored with them. Then I saw that Anthony was addressing a global warming believer about using different names to make arguments like he was more than one person, and he told him he wanted him to use just one ID. I wasn’t doing that same thing, and Anthony hadn’t said anything yet about it to me, but still I thought it would be good to settle with one name. I don’t want to be contrary to the rules, even in blogs that I don’t like when I’m at them. I think it is so fascinating that there are amino acids in meteorites that I stuck with that one.
p.s., did you watch the video linked on my ID? It’s Dennis Miller. You will probably get a good laugh.
Those ski lifts and snowmobiles aren’t solar or wind powered either, and few things are more polluting for their size than snowmobiles.
Redford is entirely full of crap.
Add Miranda Kerr (the newest Earth Hour ambassador) to the list. Check out this article by Andrew Bolt of Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper.
http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/an_earth_hour_with_miranda_would_be_hot_hot_hot/
With regards to Earth Hour here in NSW my heater and air conditioner are both going to be on full bore, fighting for supremacy. With all the lights on so I can see who wins. After all our coal fired power stations are still producing the power, it’d be a shame not to use it.
If Al Gore was in a commercial for an airline would it be hypocrisy? Sure. So why not for Robert Redford??
Billy Liar says:
March 4, 2011 at 12:29 pm
“Almost all commercial planes now use high bypass ratio turbofans for the simple reason that they are more efficient and hence better for the bottom line.”
I’ll grant you that old-fashioned turbojets are now rare, but turboprops are quite common on short and medium haul routes. More to the point, different turbofans have different bypass ratios, so some are “greener” than others. The cost optimum isn’t the same for every operator, especially since some have older fleets than others.
Robert Redford, Arnold Schwarzenegger and James Cameron and all the other “green” Superstars are invited to our first international uranium film festival in Rio de Janeiro May 21-28, 2011, to help us to get rid of nuclear power plants and uranium mining world-wide! What do You think? Will they come and/or help us with their millions $?
Chernobyl, Fukushima, Rio de Janeiro? We have 2 nuclear power plants in Brazil close to Rio de Janeiro, and the Government wants to built up to 50 more and a nuclear submarine. We have an uranium mine in Bahia that contaminates earth and water, and new mines are planned even in the Amazon region.
Our first international film festival about nuclear energy, uranium mining and radioactive risks is part of a movement to stop nuclear energy projects and uranium mining world-wide and to promote sustainability.
Any help is welcomed! Your are invited.
Best regards
Norbert
http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org
PRESS RELEASE, 24/03/2011
URÂNIO EM MOVI(E)MENTO
1st INTERNATIONAL URANIUM FILM FESTIVAL RIO DE JANEIRO 2011 MAY 21st – 28th
1º FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE FILMES SOBRE ENERGIA NUCLEAR RIO DE JANEIRO 2011
Urânio em Movi(e)mento, the First International Uranium Film Festival invites you to Rio de Janeiro, May 21st to 28th 2011. The main locations of the festival are the two beautiful cultural centres Parque das Ruinas and Laurinda Santos Lobo in the famous quarter Santa Teresa. The festival team has now selected 15 feature documentaries and movies and 19 short films: 7 films from USA, Brazil 5, Germany 5, Australia 4, France 3, Africa do Sul 2, Costa Rica 1, Sweden 1, Russia 1, India 1, Denmark 1, Georgia/Netherlands 1, Canada 1, United Kingdom 1.
There will be 18 Latin American Premieres and 2 World Premiers. The films cover nearly the whole nuclear fuel cycle and radioactive disasters: from Uranium Mining to Nuclear Power Plants and Castor transports; from nuclear ship accidents to Chernobyl and the nuclear accident of Goiânia; from Hiroshima to the depleted uranium munitions scandal in the gulf wars.After Rio de Janeiro the Uranium Film Festival will travel to Sao Paulo (June 3-5) and to the Cities of the Northeast Recife, Natal, João Pessoa and Fortaleza in August. A special session is also planned in Salvador the capital of Bahia, the state with Brazils second uranium mining complex Caetité/Lagoa Real.
Thanks for Your attention. See you soon in Santa Teresa
The Uranium Film Festival Team
Please feel free to contact us:
URÂNIO EM MOVI(E)MENTO
Phone: 0055-21-2507 6704
info@uraniumfilmfestival.org
http://www.uraniumfilmfestival.org