It may be a dirty world, but under the glittering chandeliers of the Waldorf-Astoria's grand ballroom, more than 500 guests at a black tie $1,500-a-plate banquet last week were told they could sup with a clean conscience. The occasion was a "green" dinner, devoted to celebrating "climate heroes." Carbon offsets had been purchased for their travel to the event.
Thus absolved of their climate sins for the evening, the crowd fell on the appetizer of jumbo crab served over the glossy green beans of an edamame salad, accompanied by raisin pecan rolls and olive baguettes, all washed down with a California chardonnay.
Among high-society power brokers, going "green" has become the retort to all vices and ticket to all virtues. What that actually means depends on whom you talk to. But increasingly it entails a mix of earth-tone-themed high-ticket events and plans for international bureaucrats in cahoots with big business to regulate the entire economy of the planet.
This particular occasion was the Asia Society's annual dinner, a fund-raiser that this year for the first time officially went "green." As these events go, it would be unfair to single out the Asia Society, which is just one of many venerable institutions now giving themselves over to self-congratulatory eco-excess. But having missed such gatherings as the U.N.'s 2007 climate conference at a Bali beach resort, it was at the Asia Society's climate-themed dinner that I occupied a seat at the press table. So let the details serve as a window on this brave new world, in which today's philanthropy threatens to become tomorrow's colossal carbon-capping toll coerced from all of us.
Big shots packed the room, with former U.N. ambassador Richard Holbrooke, now chairman of the Asia Society, presiding. Special envoy to the Six-Party Talks on North Korea Chris Hill drifted by--having swapped his trademark baseball cap for a tuxedo. Awards were handed out to carbon-conscious titans of industry, including Alain Belda, chairman of the board of aluminum-manufacturing giant Alcoa, which had purchased the carbon offsets for the occasion. Entertainment was provided by the Shen Wei dance company, whence came some of the choreography for the Beijing Olympics opening ceremonies.
As detailed in the program (printed on thick, rustic-style, pale green and no doubt recycled paper), eco-accessories abounded. The gold-flecked fabrics bedecking the tables were "fair trade organic silks." The gift bags awaiting each guest included paperweights hand-crafted in India of recycled aluminum cans. The seating cards were printed on recycled organic paper, embedded with wildflower seeds.
But there was no stinting on the usual accoutrements of Manhattan black tie dinners either. Never mind the dish-washing suds and emissions--the place-settings featured multiple goblets, at least seven utensils per person and a plate for each of the three courses, plus a martini glass for the dulce de leche dessert with maple-glazed walnuts. Along with the sustainable paperweights, the gift bags included a 248-page issue of Travel + Leisure magazine, featuring such articles as "Driving Andalusia in Search of Spain's Best Olive Oil."
The highlight of the evening was an award to the U.N.'s top climate guru, Rajendra Pachauri. He heads the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which last year shared the Nobel Peace Prize with Al Gore, after announcing that scientific "consensus" had been reached on global warming.
Pachauri now jets around the world preaching a gospel in which carbon dioxide is the root of all evil, urging such measures as a global meat-free day each week (apparently, with ginger-marinated French-cut breast of chicken on the dinner menu, this wasn't one of them). He is now aiming for a global regime of stringent carbon-emissions controls, to be finalized at a conference in Copenhagen next year. He is so busy with this that last week he could not be in New York to pick up his award in person. Instead, the crowd was treated to Pachauri's larger-than-life image on two huge screens, beamed in by Webcast from Beijing, urging the assembled dignitaries to put in service of his agenda their "enormous influence across the globe."
Amid the ceremonies, no one noted that Pachauri is not a scientist, but an Indian industrial engineer and economist, whose vision translates into a mandate for multilateral bureaucracies feasting together with big business to impose central planning on the planet. No one mentioned that scientific "consensus" on global warming has not in truth been reached--and that hundreds of scientists, including some prominent figures advising the U.N. itself, have vigorously dissented from Pachauri's conclusions. No one breathed a word about the vast potential cost of re-engineering the world to suit the vision for which Pachauri received his award.
The plates of petits fours were passed around. The freshly brewed coffee was poured. With a closing announcement of "When we talk about a green theme, we walk the walk and talk the talk," the guests were urged to go home and plant the wildflower seeds embedded in their seating cards. For those with a place at the table, what's not to feel good about? For the rest of humanity, what will be the real price of such dinners?
