Fake Plastic Treehugger

"The karma police have caught up with Thom Yorke. Earlier this week, the Radiohead singer and high-profile supporter of Friends of the Earth's Big Ask campaign aimed at tackling climate change, admitted to the 'hypocrisy' of participating in rock tours and said he would 'consider refusing to tour on environmental grounds...'

"This is not the first time Yorke has spoken out like this. Last year, he said: 'Environmental considerations should be factored in to the way the record companies operate.' Fuelled by this, the Edinburgh Centre for Carbon Management (ECCM) was commissioned to calculate just how environmentally damaging a Radiohead tour was likely to be. It estimated that about 35,500 trees would need to be planted and maintained for 100 years to offset the emissions generated by the band's Hail to the Thief tour. An estimated 545,000 fans saw the band play across Europe, Japan, the US and Australia and they alone generated 5,335 tonnes of CO2 by making their way to the gigs. In comparison, the five band members flew an estimated 50,000 miles, producing 54 tonnes of CO2 emissions. (The ECCM didn't calculate the presumably significant impact of the accompanying convoy of roadies and stage equipment.)" [The Guardian]