The television ratings for the Live Earth concert apparently were a failure. In the United States, the concert was watched by about 2.7 million people. In the United Kingdom, a few hundred thousand more watched – I think their total was around 3.1 million. But in the reports that I’ve read bashing the show, there is no mention of the over 8 million folks who watched the concert on MSN. Of course 8 million viewers online is a bad number in a global marketplace of 6 billion potential viewers, but it is certainly not a failure.

The early estimates were that roughly 2 billion people watched, saw, or heard the Live Earth concert. Remember, if I’m a Nielsen rating household and I’m watching the concert, what’s to say that 3 of my family members aren’t watching with me? And what about the radios that played the concerts live like Sirius XM?

I’m more inclined to believe in the 2 billion number than the “dismal failure” crowd. Listen, I know that Al Gore was the guy behind these concerts and that he’s a whack job on occasion (I’m not his biggest fan at all), but why bash the point of the concert because of the politics of the man behind it? The Live Earth concert is the largest entertainment event in the world’s history. That’s a huge accomplishment, even for a whack job liberal like Al Gore!

So I congratulate Al Gore and his band of merry misfits for their accomplishment. In fact, I even watched “An Inconvenient Truth” over the weekend just to see what his point of view was about the environment. Sure, most of his science seemed to conveniently fit his message, but I essentially don’t have a problem with Al Gore fooling the masses on this issue. Let me explain…

If we, as a country and a world community, become more reliant on renewable energy and reduce our carbon emissions then the future is only bright for everyone. There is no real downside here. I don’t see how global warming – or, if that term is too decisive for you, then let’s just call it relying on renewable energy sources – is a political battle. Republicans are for something called “energy independence” which is essentially ending our reliance on foreign oil. President Bush has also allocated a butt ton of public dollars towards researching hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.

Democrats like Al Gore are pressing for similar policies. Both political parties support using energy efficient light bulbs and solar power in your home, if possible. Everyone supports recycling, hybrid vehicles, flex fuels, and conservation…

So why does this issue become a political one? Better yet, why bash the Live Earth concerts? That’s just dumb.

But then again, when politics (or things of a political nature) are discussed in any setting in America these days, the conversation turns pretty stupid pretty quickly. It’s unfortunate.