Every week brings a new raft of inane and absurd studies related to climate change, and this past week was no exception. The most absurd such study that came across the newswires in recent days is one from the MIT Climate Machine detailing the carbon emissions footprint of – wait for it –  music concerts and festivals.

Yes, concert goers: MIT, in conjunction with the pop group Coldplay, Warner Music Group, Live Nation, and Hope Solutions, is deathly concerned about the emissions you and your fellow music lovers generate when you go see Taylor Swift, Jelly Roll, or this Bad Bunny guy who will perform at halftime of this year’s Super Bowl. Come to think of it, the Super Bowl itself no doubt generates an enormous carbon footprint: Can’t wait to see MIT’s attempt to define the percentage of it that can be attributed to Mr. Bunny.

None of this is surprising: It’s just par for the course in western academia today thanks to all the billions of dollars that flood from a massive web of corporations like Warner Music Group, dark money NGOs, and leftwing billionaire foundations to the schools, specifically earmarked for any study, report, white paper, or sternly worded memo that supports the climate alarm narrative. We could criticize leadership at MIT for participating in this sort of narrative boosting, but the truth is that it is just one of hundreds of American universities that are in on the scheme.

Thus, we get scholarly reports like this one, whose accompanying press release boasts “analyzes data from over 80,000 events across the U.S. and the U.K., capturing greenhouse gas emissions across all major impact areas including trucking, energy, food and beverage consumption, water, waste, fan travel, artist and crew travel, accommodation, and freight.” The release later adds, “Grounded in rigorous peer-reviewed research, industry reports, and advanced analysis, the findings offer an unprecedented, data-driven view of live music’s environmental impact.”

So, what are those rigorous, peer-reviewed findings? Welp, fans, it turns out your own travel to and from the concerts is the biggest source of shame, accounting for 77% of total concert-related emissions in the U.K. and 62% in the United States. Don’t you feel bad about yourselves now? Maybe you should consider limiting your consumption of your favorite artist’s songs to popping in the earbuds and activating that Spotify app.

But, if you feel you must go see these fabulous autotune assisted artists live and in person, perhaps you should consider staying thirsty and hungry since the MIT study blames your personal food and beverage intake for another 16% of emissions in the U.S. and 7.6% in the U.K. What’s a little dry mouth or stomach growling when you’re saving Mother Gaia, after all?

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MIT’s researchers next point their green finger of shame at trucking and freight as causes of 14% of U.S. emissions and a whopping 35% associated with U.K. concerts. (Apparently, the U.K. has some really dirty trucking happening on its roads these days.)

The fourth major category listed in the release targets what the researchers call “large format shows,” which, “though fewer in number, generate a disproportionate share of total emissions.”

Not to be overly harsh towards MIT, but absurd studies like this one are one reason why the reputation of higher education is falling into such disfavor now. If this is what the school’s top professors and researchers are spending their time on, no wonder the Trump White House wants to cut off the flow of federal money. Taxpayers who actually work for a living deserve better than this.

David Blackmon is an energy writer and consultant based in Texas. He spent 40 years in the oil and gas business, where he specialized in public policy and communications.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.

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