In a new interview with the UK Guardian, Trudie Styler — wife of music legend Sting — candidly talks about using her celebrity to help draw attention to the destruction of the Amazonian Rainforest by oil companies; as well as criticism over her own large carbon footprint, and what she thinks about former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s commitment to the environment. (Hint: She’s not a fan.) Here are some highlights:

On seeing the destruction of communities and nature at the hands of oil company Chevron:

“What you see in this area is mile upon mile of oil pipes and very broken-down buildings. The light has gone out of the people’s eyes. What I saw on the faces of the mothers is that they’re terrified that the water they give their children, day in, day out, is going to poison them and they’ve got good reason. There’s a lot of kids who’ve got leukaemia, lot of kids with cancer. It’s nothing for mothers to bring in their eight week babies just covered from head to foot in really livid rashes from the contaminants in the water … These are people who, for 35 years, have watched so many of their people die that they’re broken. Their day-to-day living is disastrous. They’ve seen a lot of death.”

On using carbon offsets:

“I don’t believe in carbon offsetting. Planting 60 trees so you don’t have to say your Hail Marys that night? It’s a crock. We should be looking at the bigger picture. It’s all very well going around driving our Priuses but we have to look to our governments to make us less reliant on oil.”

On the cost of organic food and the current economic downturn’s impact on consumer spending:

“I think organics will get hit a bit, particularly this year where we seem to be gripped by fear … We say organic food is not cost-effective because we haven’t created a mode for it to be cost-effective. For years there was an incentive for setting aside. Why didn’t they give money two decades ago instead of to set-aside, to conversion? We would have much of England now as organic soil and we’d be doing a whole lot better.

“But that hasn’t been done, largely because I don’t think we had in Tony Blair a man who really gave a shit about the environment.”

To read the rest of the in-depth interview, jump here.

Categories: People
Tags: sting, trudie styler.

About Michael dEstries

Michael has been blogging since 2005 on issues such as sustainability, renewable energy, philanthropy, and healthy living. He regularly contributes to a slew of publications, as well as consulting with companies looking to make an impact using the web and social media. He lives in Ithaca, NY with his family on an apple farm.

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