Celebutard of the Week: Robert Redford
by Andrea PeyserRobert Redford likes to play the nation’s Environmentalist in Chief, making the wildly earnest claim in last week’s Huffington Post that he was “too early on solar power.’’ He boasts, like a self-absorbed prophet, that he promoted clean energy way back in his filmmaking hey day of the 1970s. He even gave a shoutout to Barack “Special Olympics’’ Obama, who in his State of the Union address “noted that although America invented solar energy technology, we have fallen behind countries like Germany and Japan in producing it. He is right of course’’ Never mind that Redford, self-proclaimed savior of the earth, probably promotes the burning of more fossil fuel than virtually any other single American outside of Mobil. Or Al Gore, whose Nashville estate burned 20 times the national average in fuel. Obama, too.
This is why Robert Redford is my Celebutard of the Week, in keeping with my book – Celebutards: The Hollywood Hacks, Limousine Liberals and Pandering Politicians Who Are Destroying America (Kensington).
Redford founded a ski resort in Park City, Utah, a particularly environmentally unfriendly venture in which rich folks routinely travel from points afar – and they’re not riding in hot air balloons. He also started the environmentally ruinous Sundance Film Festival, an SUV-choked venture that annually pulls in countless Gulfstream jets full of busy film executives to the remote and pricey environs, where hot air is expelled, unharnessed, into the atmosphere.
As contrarian former columnist John Tierney noted in the New York Times, if Redford really cared about the environment he’d move his festival to New York City, which would “spare [movie makers] a trip, enrich our economy and save energy.’’
Nonetheless, Redford urges Americans to do as he says, if not as he does. He wrote, “I remember when America was leading the pack on clean energy in the 1970s. We abdicated that leadership thanks to the influence of a fossil fuel industry with deep pockets and friends in the White House. But Obama reminded us of an important aspect of the American character: ingenuity. We are a nation of innovators, and we can harness that resourcefulness again to build a better future.’’
This, of course, came after Obama winged it out of Washington while the economy burned like so many coal stoves. He took Air Force One – the large, Boeing 747 version — out to Long Beach, Calif., for his disastrous foray on the Tonight show that resulted in his personal apology to the head of the Special Olympics, after he compared his bowling skill to that of physically challenged athletes. Even George W. Bush, a global-warming skeptic, took the smaller, 757 version of Air Force One on his last trip to California.
Wrote Redford, “I saw that ingenuity emerge three decades ago, when the promise of renewable energy became clear to many of us. We were so eager to spread the word about solar power that we created ‘Sun Day,’ the solar equivalent of Earth Day. We had events from Maine to Chicago to the Lincoln Memorial in Washington DC. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir even agreed to participate in one event. People were just starting to get excited about pollution-free power, but then Ronald Reagan became president and took the solar panels off the White House and the policies promoting renewable energy were stripped from the books.’’
That’s right, Robert, blame a Republican. He fails to mention that President George W. Bush called on not just America, but China and India, two far worse polluters, to cut down emissions that folks like Redford and Co. blame for global warming. However, it’s become as fashionable as a hybrid Hummer to blame the United States for the world’s dirty air.
“I was too early in my efforts to promote solar power, but now is the time. We are getting a second chance–another American trait. If we don’t seize this moment, we will be too late to get the competitive advantage in a global marketplace, too late for the economic dividends, and too late to stave off the worst of global warming,’’ he wrote, probably from a hilltop in Utah.
I wonder how he got there? But that would be impolite to ask.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
79 Comments
Bob might want to have a talk with Sen Dianne Feinstein, who is fighting the placement of solar panels in the California desert because of the alleged dangers to the Desert Turtle…
I thought Redford had retired this award years ago…
Living 10 minutes from Sundance, I love how the environment is such an issue when he caters to crowds up to the mountains, yet complains when others tear up the landscape. Typical hollywood, preachy, hypocrite.
He might also want to do some research. We are currently the world leader in wind energy … for all the little good it does … despite Teddy Kennedy's objections to having a windfarm off the coast of his own Cape Cod compound. I sort of don't actually blame him though. There has been a sinlge wind turbine out by my granparent's place in Western KS for almost as long as I can remember, and that thing is surprisingly loud.
Is it just me, or does it seem like the Libs are bringing up Reagan a lot these days? I get the sense that the worse their man Obama performs the more afraid they are of a Reaganesque Republican rising to prominence and they're already trying to find a way to put a negative spin on the Reagan legacy. It just reinforces my feeling that they already know that Obama isn't up to the job.
Robert Redford: Enemy of the Poor
Robert Redford: Enemy of Intelligent Thought
I'm sure removing solar panels from the White House killed to clean energy movement. If solar panels were economically feasible, either then or now, they would take off and be installed everywhere and we'd be happy to use them. Not because some cranky Hwood type shames us into it.
Ironic that no one's ever said, "Redford's directed movies remind us of an important aspect of the American character: ingenuity."
Rush Limbaugh was saying last week, or the week before, when ever a president flies around on Air Force 1, there are two jets in action, the actual Air Force 1, and a decoy. If so, double the amount pollution caused by Obama, jaunting off to Leno.
If it is so important for us to be "green," then why is it that 95% of all the solar panels, wind turbine parts, etc. are made out of the country? All of it comes into the country and is assembled here. Seems like to me, since I am in the business that imports building materials from other countries, that if there was money to be made in this area, why aren't more people settingup businesses to manufacture these things here. One reason, I am guessing, is they are cheaper to import. We might have been the leader of solar and wind in the 70's, but we were also booming in the Nuclear power area, too. Unfortunately, that got kiboshed, and here we are, behind France. Good going, energy police.
Yet they think regulation is a good thing.
[...] Big Hollywood added an interesting post on Celebutard of the Week: Robert RedfordHere’s a small excerptRobert Redford likes to play the nation’s Environmentalist in Chief, making the wildly earnest claim in last week’s Huffington Post that he was “ too early on solar power .’’ He boasts, like a self-absorbed prophet, that he promoted clean energy way back in his filmmaking hey day of the 1970s. He even gave a shoutout to Barack “Special Olympics’’ Obama, who in his State of the Union address “noted that although America invented solar energy technology, we have fallen behind countries like Ge [...]
It's not just you. It would be even worse if the man was still alive. The braindeadocrats consider Reagan the GOP's FDR. Obamaprompter has bashed him repeatedly in his references to quote/unquote "failed" policies. I love it when self-important celebutards parrot dubious, at best, scientific conclusions they have no hope of understanding. Make-up! A little more magic putty for Mr. Redford, quick!
Again, are we really surprised by lefty environmental hypocrisy? Maybe the following will illuminate.
http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/1a4af347eb/eco-c...
Robert Redford is the classic example of a pretty face trying desperately to be more than just a pretty face. Apparently directing didn't calm his fears on that front, so now he has to play environmental guru to prove that he is thoughtful and intelligent. Unfortunately, all Bob proves with his article is that he IS just a pretty face.
They're definitely bringing up Reagan a lot of late, and I'm thinking for the very reasons you state. They're trying to preemptively discredit anyone that comes to the fore with a Reaganesque platform and vibe.
Why have we lost the voice of Jan-Michael Vincent, to be replaced by Robert Redford ? Both men soared on the wings of their certitude, the magnificent eruditon of their views, and shared the same great looks. What an unfair world that we have to live in and not get to hear about the environment's challenges from Jan-Michael ! Has Mr. Vincent gone off to some mountain in Tibet to write the philsophy that can us and Mr. Redford into the valley of enlightenment ? I would rather listen to records if I can't have his sage advice, but without the faux provincial furniture and the pre-anthroplogie jewelry, the hopi doll lightswitches will never replace the taut one-liners from White Line Fever.
I used to like Redford years and years ago, til I became a responsible adult.
This vapid "winner" of the genetic lottery is telling me how to live? Yo airhead, blow it out your piehole. When you park your Gulfstream I'll park my Mustang GT.
From what I can tell, his film festivals have drawn a lot of yuppies and eco-freaks who liked what they saw, decided to move to Colorado, and proceeded to tell you nice people that you were doing everything wrong, and they are going to fix it. They want to make it look and smell more like Malibu.
And they're even more afraid of a certain demographic called the Reagan Democrats.
We have one of the earliest examples of environmental paranoia just a little ways east of San Francisco. They built some of the first wind power generators in California in the Altamont Pass. Lots of wind, lots of natural wildlife. Small problem, raptors (mostly hawks and a few eagles) love the the rabbits hippety-hopping around on the ground. They dive for the prey, and find themselvess sliced and diced on the blades of the wind turbine fans. It's an eco-freak free for all out there. Save the bunnies! Save the raptors! Save the earth! Somebody go get the thorazine!
As smart as he is tall.
Another do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do blowhard. Stick a fork in this guy. He's so done.
http://the100mostannoyingthings.blogspot.com/
Robert Redford: A pretty face whose connections landed him in the big leagues. Robert Redford believed the hype and opened his mouth. Real environmentalists are not political; they are conservationists.
Redford reminds me of the saying "Better to remain silent and be thought a fool rather than open ones mouth and remove all doubt" he is merely another do as I say not as I do Liberal- Algore anyone?
Don't forget all of the secondary 'assets', both on the ground and in the air (e.g., the limo is not driven to it's destination for the day; it is airlifted in. HUGE carbon footprint. However, carbon footprints do not apply to the ruling elite.
OFF TOPIC ALERT:
I just LOVES my '07 Mustang GT. I feel like I'm eighteen again every time I get behind the wheel (well, eighteen with the smarts of a fifty-nine year-old, so I'm not crazy-testosterone-dangerous to my fellow drivers anymore ;- ).
P.S. I'm not sure if "blow it out your piehole!" is an appropriate jibe for someone like Redford. You should probably say "blow it out your organic/hydroponically-grown alfalfa sprout hole!"
LWA, it's about the STATE, not the free market economy!
Doesn't AF1 also fly with two military jets as escorts? I don't they they are solar-powered.
Here are a few questions. Did GE take bailout money? If so, how does it affect those workers that make over the new Obama limit on pay? Does Chris Matthews really need as much as he is paid? What about Lorne Michaels? Tina Fey?
NBC is owned by GE, now a taxpayer subsidized concern. Is it too much to ask why 140 Billion dollars goes to a company that cannot even run a TV network? How much money was wasted on Knight Ridder? Will the taxpayer fund a remake of My Mother, the Car as well?
I say it is time to tax the NBC workers just like AIG, or can you tell me what the difference is?
Oh yeah I forgot!
Redford is just pissed at the word because when he had his "eye job," the doctor gave him the "Full Cattle Prod" look (very similar to the "I Just Saw a Ghost" look for Nancy Pelosi). He looks ridiculous!
Some years ago, Redford fought a project to widen and straighten the road leading up Provo Canyon, where his Sundance resort is. The road was narrow and winding, following exactly the course of the river, and accidents were on the increase because of increased traffic up Provo Canyon, in part because of Sundance itself.
And also because of the hoity toity people who moved up to Heber (and have to drive to their jobs through Provo Canyon) to experience the lovely mountains.
He wants to save the planet, he should shut down Sundance and replant all those trees he had to cut down for the runs and the cabins.
And yeah, get rid of the film festival. He holds it during January, right when Utah is experiencing horrific thermal inversions that trap cool polluted air under a layer of warm air–right where Park City is.
In other words, the private jets spew pollution into the lower atmosphere while in Park City the skies are clear and bright. The rest of us in the Salt Lake valley have to struggle to not hang ourselves from the gloom.
I knew the British architect who supervised all of Redford's renovations in New York back in the 80's…he may have thought he was "ahead" of his time, but this wasn't GREEN stuff, believe me. Other than his roles in Butch Cassidy and one or two other films shortly thereafter, the guy is simply a worn out trademark, and a tiresome one at that.
Redford is my least favorite celebritard. He's a great actor, perhaps one of the best ever. Yet many of his films include gratuitous Republican bashing. What do I think of a great cook who, in finding out the person who's eating his fare disagreed with his politics, would spit in it prior to it being served? Infantile, bigoted, arrogant, mean spirited, monsterously egotistical. And "THE" role model for the rest of Hollywood.
Redford is one of those guys who will one day, discover what a total doufuss he really is. First off why do people think this man was ever a good actor? Ever see him in A Bridge Too Far? He makes a 2 x 4 look like Laurence Olivier. Secondly the man has never really understood what regular folk have to go through in their daily lives to feed their kids, heat their homes and pay their bills. Somehow this self styled arisocrate in hiking boots doesn't understand how truly out of touch he is with the rest of the world.
why doesnt someone just call them hypocrites to their face??? I know I would if I could.
I googled pics of Redford's homes(mansions) and I will be darned if I could see a solar panel or wind generator on a one of them. In order to run an Al Gore/Redford size home totally on solar they would need 1000 3ft x 5 ft panels costing about $800 each and since the sun doesn't shine at night, it's true Mr. Redford, they would need about $150,000 worth of batteries to store energy for when the sun is down. Until these paragons of environmentalism start powering their lives COMPLETELY with alternative energy they should be ignored.
I always thought Robert Redford to be a bore.
Obama keeps talking about “renewable green energy” that he says will not only get us off of fossil fuels but we will be able to “export” fto create jobs in America? How do you export wind and sun? Or maybe he is talking about other “renewable energy”. But I have never heard him say what kind of renewable green energy he is talking about? What is green and produces energy? Grass (not the kind you smoke)(or maybe it is)?
It's not like I was ever a huge fan (The Natural notwithstanding), but I was appalled when he inserted himself in to the eulogy (of sorts) he wrote in memory of Paul Newman. God, what gasbag.
I never thought of him as that good of an actor. He always seemed rather stilted and superficial to me. He's hardly what I would call "good-looking" in his old age, unless you really get off to "lots of wrinkles," and as for being a hypocrite, it is a tight race between Al Gore and good ole Bob, when it comes to the personal carbon spewing, just like most of the pseudo publicity seeking "environmentalists."
There he sits, high atop his aerie domain. He thinks he's an eagle, but I think a vulture or a turkey is more like it. His sundance empire is hypocritical, just like algore's.
I got disgusted with him several years ago when I heard that he and his second wife were planning a green wedding. It wasn't going to be some modest affair, but a major blowout for 300 people, to show that you can have a great time and still go green. I thought that was the stupidest thing I'd ever heard. No amount of recycled-paper napkins (or maybe they were cotton?) is going to make up for the fact that 300 people are flying in for your wedding. So few of the greenies understand that a truly green lifestyle should be a modest lifestyle. Driving a Prius doesn't make up for owning 300 pairs of shoes and 100 handbags.
The New Dodge Charger gives me the same thrill of growing up in Detroit with real cars. HEMI V-8 and loving it. Who says that a few more degrees is not the perfect temperature for the earth.
In the comedies, wasn't Newman the funny one?
There are reports out there that the manufacture of solar panels is too dirty for our environmental regulations, that's why they make them in China.
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/01/the-dark-...
Partial thread-jack/my nomination for sort-of celebutards: the writers and producers of "The Simpsons".
Who else is sad to see what has become of "The Simpsons"? Not only has the show run out of good storylines, but it has become one more cog in the liberal Hollywood machine,
Once upon a time, "The Simpsons" actually took shots at Democrats. Remember Grandpa Simpson saying he thought he was getting checks for doing nothing "because the Democrats were back in power", or Sideshow Bob promising revenge on Bart upon being sent to prison because "sooner or later the Democrats will be back in power, and I'll be back on the streets!".
Now "The Simpsons" is as independent as Keith Olbermann. Last night's episode involved a trip to Ireland that acknowledged the economic miracle there, but never hinted that tax cuts are the driving force behind Ireland's turn-around. OK, but then the show took a gratuitous shot at the GOP by comparing the US to the New York Yankees, i.e. "the US and Yankees were both powerful and respected before 2000".
End partial thread-jack/my nomination for Show Business celebutards.
Speaking of pollution: Redford speaking. Sad that someone like Redford has been duped. Then again he is probably just trying to protect the industries he is invested in from garnering further competition. Now that he has his ski resort heavin forbid someone build another one!
Ya they're really nice. One parks near me in the parking garage at school. The rumble echoing in the garage is GREAT! The Hondas and Toyotas run and hide their ears.
Celebutard doesn't even begin to describe these moronic "celebs". Maybe Celebmoronatard?
These idiots all have a "do as I say not as I do" attitude. And you can add obama as the first Celebmoronatard since he's making the circuit. Or is that circus?
Celebutard doesn't even begin to describe these moronic "celebs". Maybe Celebmoronatard?
These idiots all have a "do as I say not as I do" attitude. And you can add obama as the first Celebmoronatard since he's making the circuit. Or is that circus?
We must simply BOYCOTT everything to do with these hollyweirdos, only then will they fade away.
Have you seen his face lately? It ain't as pretty as it used to be.
Maybe triple that, for whenever obama speaks the only thing coming out is pollution.
I really wish he'd stick to acting and directing…any other time he opens his mouth, it's the same tired retoric from another Hollywood elite who should receive the Acadamey Award for "Do as I say, Not as I do"…OR…Open Mouth Insert Carbon Foot!!
[...] husdal.com added an interesting post today on Celebutard of the Week: Robert RedfordHere’s a small readingPeople were just starting to get excited about pollution-free power, but then Ronald Reagan became president and took the solar panels off the… [...]
I am always amazed at the pompous self-righteousness of politically correct left leaning celebrities. I can guarantee that Robert Redford has consumed the earth's resources at 20 times the rate of the average American. Count up all his jet travel over his life (probably many private jet flights), add to that all the homes he has built / lived in, heat and air-conditioned, and all the other energy he has consumed, and it will make us "normal" hard working conservatives look like peasants. Pure hypocrisy.
He can have lots of money and consume 20x the average rate, but those "rich" couples who both work hard to raise a family and make a decent living, who are engineers and scientists that actually build things and make people's lives better, we are rich selfish jerks who need to be taxed even more than we are now. We do not hire lawyers like Redford to hide and protect our assets and income – we pay through the nose so others do not have to work so hard. As Obama is finding, it is difficult to find successful, rich liberals that pay their taxes…
Robert Redford: A pretty face whose connections landed him in the big leagues. Robert Redford believed the hype and opened his mouth. Real environmentalists are not political; they are conservationists who lead by example.
I liked Paul Newman . Redford is a piece of stool.
Of course Redford is a hypocrite, just as Penn, Algore, Maher, and virtually all of the other Hollywood types who pretend to know more than we do when it comes to running the planet. It amazes me that people ascribe credibility to those whose main talent in life is play-acting and pontificating before the cameras. In a sane world, they'd be paid on a scale to what they contribute to society, which would be roughly that of pocket change tossed into a mall fountain.
I remember that James Gandolfini had a sad end on one of those turbines a few years ago when Charlie Sheen pushed him out of a plane.
Gandolfini was the raptor. Charlie Sheen is the raptard.
From what I can tell, his film festivals have drawn a lot of yuppies and eco-freaks who liked what they saw, decided to move to Colorado and Utah, and proceeded to tell you nice people that you were doing everything wrong, and they are going to fix it. They want to make it look and smell more like Malibu.
Does Obama’s appearance on Leno mean that he has crossed the threshold into celebutard status? Between the big honking plane trip, the joke at the expense of the Special Olympics and the appearance itself, I’d say he’s no longer just a mere political hackutard. He could be your first hyphenate -utard!
Ah yes, Tribes. How could I forget Tribes.
People are constantly pulling up next to me at stop lights and asking – jokingly of course – "Hey, that thing got a HEMI in it?" You can guess what I drive. ;^)
First, let me say that I want clean energy as much as any "green warrior" does. Let me add that I'm also a pretty pragmatic guy.
I live in Arizona and believe me, if solar power was feasible, Arizona Public Service would be selling it to me. The fact is, we have sunshine 90% of the year (well, during the day, anyway) and it isn't even cost effective here. I guarantee it isn't going to be cost effective most places. At some point it may be reasonable to use solar energy, but whether or not we'll be able to produce the necessary panels in this country is yet another matter. The production of solar panels requires a plethora of EPA sanctioned chemicals that makes their construction in this country too expensive. So don't look for any quick fix to this 'solar' lagging that Redford decries.
you know the diff between a developer and an environmentalist?
the environmentalist already has his vacation home.
Ya know, I never saw the appeal of this guy…on any level. Still don't.
Ah, Redford. Makes me pine for the good old days of Nuclear Energy protests. Redford is still living in his "Electric Horseman" years, when Jane Fonda almost made him seem human (and his makeup artist was underpaid.)
Actually, GE is heavily divested in "green" energy, it was allegedly partially on their behest that the mercury infested light bulbs will soon be the mandated norm. They have also invested in wind and solar power. And, don't forget Mr. T. Boone Pickens who tells us we must use alternative energy after he himself invested heavily in a company which produces wind turbines somewhere right here in my home state of Texas.
Redford should be happy with a future People magazine cover of the prettiest man of all time and call it a day.
Way back, some time in the late '70s, Robert Redford and some friends were caught using a helicopter to fly into a Wilderness Area for a camping trip. Their excuse was that they didn't have time to walk in, because their time was too valuable.
I confirmed it with a National Park Ranger during the early 89s (1982?), who wondered how I had heard about it since it had received very little attention. This was way before Internet days, but was discovered by one of the off-road mototcycle magazines that was spending a lot of time defending the California riding areas.
I have tried to locate follow-up information using the Internet for searches, but no success.
[...] was paid for voice overs in a series of United Airline commercials. And let’s not forget the carbon footprint of the Sundance Film Festival. Redford founded a ski resort in Park City, Utah, a particularly environmentally unfriendly venture [...]
Related……
[...]just beneath, are numerous totally not related sites to ours, however, they are surely worth going over[...]……
You must be logged in to post a comment.