Paul McCartney’s new eco-friendly car makes its first 7000 miles trip - from Japan, by plane
Well, we all know by now that Paul McCartney sure can pick them when it comes to money guzzling wives but I had no idea that he had the same problem with picking cars:
Sir Paul McCartney, vocal advocate of vegetarianism and poster child for environmental activism, is said to be “horrified” that his new eco-friendly car was flown 7,000 miles from Japan. The Lexus LS600H, which costs £84,000, was a gift from Lexus to the 65-year-old former Beatle, who helped promote the hybrid vehicle. But instead of arriving by boat as expected, the car was flown to Britain on a Korean Air flight, creating a carbon footprint almost 100 times bigger than if it had come by sea.
Poor saint - sorry: Sir Paul. First betrayed by a wife, and now by a car company. A very funny story though. On the other hand, it’s one of those perfect little parables.
I still have no idea how serious the threat of global warming is. I’m not a scientist - and Hell, scientists have been collectively wrong before. When I was a kid all of them were warning about a coming ice age. I’m not saying they’re wrong, just that I’m not qualified to weigh whatever evidence they come up with. When it comes to environmental issues my instincts are to err on the side of caution. The Head and Shoulders people have always told us that you don’t get a second chance to make a first impression: I guess that’s also true about destroying your habitat.
Anyway, whether these scientists are right or too alarmist by half is one thing, the human heart is quite another - and what this Lexus story shows is that when it comes to self-promoting and cheap symbolism we can be both heart-warmingly and earth-shatteringly stupid. Which is, come to think of it, not a combination that bodes very well - for us or the planet.
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