U2's 'massive carbon footprint' called into question

U2 and Bono’s long-held commitment to “save the planet” has come into question after it emerged they have a carbon footprint big enough to fly the band to Mars and back. The Irish rockers campaign to fight poverty and AIDS in Africa and Bono called on the world’s population to take better care of the earth. Speaking in Tokyo last year he said: “My prayer is that we become better in looking after our planet.” Related articles New boiler on the horizon for Bono However, according to an environmentalists’ website, the band’s 100-date 18-month world tour will see the multi-millionaires clock up an incredible 70,000 air miles in their fuel-guzzling private jet. The £90m U2360 tour also features three 390-tonne stages criss-crossing the globe, along with 200 crew and backstage staff. The opening night in Barcelona’s Nou Camp last week featured the space station-style stage and satellite link-up with the International Space Station. Perhaps appropriately, the tour’s carbon footprint can also be measured in space terms, with their colossal emissions of up to 65,000 tonnes of CO2 enough to fly Bono, the Edge, Adam Clayton and Larry Mullen Jr from earth to the planet Mars — and back. The figure was calculated by experts from carbonfootprint.com, a company which specialises in assessing environmental damage. U2’s CO2 emissions are the equivalent of the waste created by 6,500 average British or Irish people in an entire year, or equal to leaving a standard 100 watt lightbulb on for 159,000 years. more here