Republicans move to block Gore 'Live Earth' rock concert

Talk about spoiled rotten little children, Unfrikingbelievable

Published: Wednesday March 28, 2007

Republicans in Congress are trying to bar former vice president Al Gore's anti-global warming mega-concert from its planned venue on the steps of the US Capitol building.

Gore is planning a single-day, series of free "Live Earth" concerts on seven continents, with the goal of calling attention to the climate change crisis.

The US concert, scheduled for the steps of the Capitol on July 7, 2007, has drawn an A-list slate of pop performers, including the Police, Kanye West, Faith Hill, Bon Jovi and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

But some Republicans have balked over the cost of providing police for the event, while others insist that the concert is a partisan Democratic event and as such, not allowed on Capitol grounds.

One outspoken opponent of the concert is Senator James Inhofe, a longtime debunker of cataclysmic climate change, which he has derided as a "hoax."

"Senator Inhofe objects to having any events on the Capitol grounds that are either highly partisan or politically controversial -- and the proposed Gore concert is both," said his spokesman Marc Morano.

Inhofe and Gore locked horns last week at a standing room only Senate hearing on global warming.

Morano said formal moves to block the concert have been lodged by Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

Congressional officials said that Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid and Republican Senator Olympia Snowe -- who earlier this month introduced a Senate resolution to allow Gore to stage his anti-climate change concert -- insist the event is non-partisan, and are working with Republicans to break the impasse.

Gore, perhaps the best-known environmentalist in the United States, is the author of a bestselling book on global warming "An Inconvenient Truth," which was made into the blockbuster documentary which won a pair of Oscars last month.

He also recently received a nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to draw attention to the ravages of global climate change.

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