Al Gore's big concert was today in a number of cities worldwide. I watched about 45 seconds of some musician I didn't recognize and was surprised that all of the concertgoers weren't pumping away on stationary bikes hooked to a power grid to supply juice to all of the stage lights, amplifiers and other assorted electronic equipment.

Courtesy of Pajamas Media comes a pointer to the Live Earth site's "Green Event Guidelines." The list is hilarious -- where it isn't excusing extravagance through the purchase of fraudulent carbon credits, it allows exceptions to the guidelines if meeting them isn't "possible."

Among the steps being taken for our events are:

* All electricity that powers the shows will be from renewable sources, either through utility supplied renewable energy, biodiesel generators, or renewable energy credits.

* Concessionaires will be encouraged to use and directed to suppliers of agricultural/ biodegradable plastics (i.e. made from corn). Also, concessionaire waste will be minimized through a comprehensive recycling and reuse system organized at the venue.

* Venue offices, walkways, etc will be optimized to use as little electricity as possible.

* The entire production design will follow sustainable light design principles. Production lighting will include the use of LED light bulbs, signage will be produced from recycled or agricultural materials, and some tickets will be integrated with public transportation access and green messaging.

* Live Earth staff and artist air travel will be offset through carbon credits

* Ground travel will be hybrid or high-efficiency vehicles, where possible.

Steps being taken in our offices:

* Set computers, printers, etc. to go to “sleep” after a few minutes.

* Print and copy double-sided to reduce paper use

* Use recycled paper products

* Purchase furniture that is made of recycled products, and recycle or donate once it’s no longer needed

* Replace incandescent bulbs with CFLs

* Turn off computers and lights at night - install power strips so it’s easy to turn off all electronics at once

* Encourage recycling by having bins accessible around the office

* Have reuseable ceramic mugs for coffee or water, rather than disposalbe ones

* Encourage carpools

* Purchase carbon offsets

What a relief! The world may get warmer, but gosh darnit, Gore's carbon trading interests are going to earn him some pocket change.