Letters to the Editor
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Eyes on the Prize
Oprah has millions of women and shut-ins and kids watching her daily. At least those women, who are homemakers and retirees, do a lot of the shopping for the family. If Oprah tells them, "Buy a flourescent light bulb to save energy and money", they'll do it. Suppose 10,000 women pick up a couple of those bulbs on their next grocery expedition.
If Oprah tells them to use mass transit or get their kids on bikes or to walk or carpool and a thousand of those millions of viewers do it, that is a net gain.People trust her and love her. They probably will vote for candidates she sess as pro-environment.
Its easy to snark on her and on Gore for their affluent lifestyles, but charismatic people attract money as well as eyes. Money buys stuff. Its a weird paradox. But if Oprah or Gore can get a million people to change their habits, even a little, they more than mitgate their own consumption. I sincerely doubt that people like Julia "Butterfly" Hill, who sofa surfs and sits in trees is going to have the impact that telegenic and ubiquitous people like Oprah has.