Prince Charles gets environmental award, pisses off environmentalists
When is a green not a green? Some say it’s when he jets across the Atlantic to accept an award for … being green. Prince Charles raised eyebrows this weekend as he made a quick trip to the U.S. to receive the Global Environmental Citizen Award from Harvard’s Center for Health and the Global Environment. Although Chuck and the missus crammed their schedule with visits to urban neighborhoods in Philadelphia and New York, taking an electric train between the cities instead of flying, it wasn’t enough to quell cranky critics. “It is a form of eco-insanity to expend so much energy for such meager reasons,” said activist Joss Garman of U.K.-based Plane Stupid. After accepting his award from last year’s winner, Al Gore, the earnest prince told the crowd, “Every passing year has seen further evidence emerge of the damage we are doing to this poor old planet.” His office later announced that he would cancel a ski trip to Switzerland to balance his carbon footprint. That’s how we always do it.
