Gore's climate concert finds home in New Jersey

04/10/2007 4:19 AM, Reuters


Rebuffed in Washington, former Vice President Al Gore is taking his "Live Earth" rock concert to New Jersey.

The concert to raise awareness about global warming will be held on July 7 at Giants Stadium in New Jersey, just across the Hudson River from Manhattan, organizers said on Tuesday.

Gore had wanted to use the National Mall in Washington but two other groups had already obtained permits for that day. Then, an effort to stage the show on the nearby U.S. Capitol grounds was opposed by some Republicans in Congress.

"We had a number of cities all over the United States saying 'come here, come here,"' said Live Earth founder and executive producer Kevin Wall.

"New York and the state of New Jersey really wanted us to be there and went out of their way to accommodate us."

Artists at the Giants Stadium concert will include the Dave Matthews Band, the Police, Faith Hill and Tim McGraw, Ludacris, and close Gore friend and New Jersey native Jon Bon Jovi, organizers said.

It will be one of several concerts held on July 7 on each of the seven continents. The others are slated for Shanghai, Sydney, Johannesburg, London, Rio de Janeiro, Tokyo and Antarctica.

Organizers predict more than 1 million people will attend the shows, with millions more tuning in via the Internet, television, radio and wireless services.

Gore has embarked on a mission to warn that the world is facing a "planetary emergency" and has called for emissions of carbon dioxide by the United States, the largest source of the greenhouse gas, to be frozen at current levels.

Staging the concert on the Capitol grounds would require congressional approval and Gore ran into opposition from some Republicans, including Oklahoma Sen. James Inhofe (news, bio, voting record), who has referred to global warming as a "hoax."

While one of New Jersey's other famous rock musicians, Bruce Springsteen, was not on the lineup on Tuesday, Wall hinted that he could be added.

"You think we've announced everything?" he said.