Much of the controvery and critism has been from critics skeptical of Al Gore's motives. The event has been sarcastically called Gore Aid by skeptics,[21] (derived from Live Aid + Al Gore), and also viewed as a possible way for Gore to promote himself for the 2008 U.S. Presidential election. [22] Al Gore has vehemently denied having presidential asperations, and choose not to run in the 2004 Presidential Election despite support for a bid by Democratic party members, but his tone has softened a bit more recently and currently denies any plans to run for the presidency, but does not rule it out.[citation needed]

Common criticism from those skeptical of Al Gore's motives include when a conservative group criticized Gore (earlier, in 2007,) citing electric bills that were far more than the typical Nashville, Tenessee home, and thus not environmentally friendly.[citation needed] Utility records showed the Gore family paid an average monthly electric bill of about $1,200 (in 2006) for its 10,000-square-foot home. The critism extends that while Gore has asked supporters to sign a "Live Earth Pledge," and switch to energy efficiency for their homes, Gore was not practising what he preached. This particular arguement is not accurate in that it overlooks that the high energy bill is due to spending extra money for environmentally friendly energy via "green credits," an overlooked reason for a higher electric bill that does not equal high energy usage or poor efficiency. [23] Al Gore also responded by pointing out that the house is being converted to be environmentally friendly, including solar panels and a geothermal system, which Gore has claimed to be in planning long before the criticism, and only made possible by zoning changes earlier this year. The plan seeks to meet the standards of the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards established by the U.S. Green Building Council. [24].

The event has been also been criticised by a few as ineffective, including Dr. Patrick Michaels, senior fellow in environmental studies at the Cato Institute who called it "the largest political rally in history, yet they will accomplish nothing but feel-good environmentalism,".[25]

Then there is the criticism that the events hypocritically are wasting energy, such as the criticism over the use of private jets. One of the people criticizing the concerts is Muse frontman Matthew Bellamy, who told BBC 6 Music, that it seems hypocritical to support an event that could have an opposite effect on the climate. "Private jets for climate change, not sure about it that seems to be a bit on edge really – that’s an issue really, so we need to think about it!”. Organizers have defended the use of jets on the music events by saying that the concerts will have eco-friendly electricity and sustainable lighting. Ashok Sinha, the director of Stop Climate Chaos, a group involved in the event, said that criticizers should not put the finger of blame towards the music stars taking part in the event. “They have to reduce carbon emissions, we have to reduce carbon emissions, and in just the same way that we may look at a pop star and say, ‘you use more carbon than I do,’ then people from Africa could look at us and think we don’t go flying around everywhere, I have met people in Africa who haven’t even made a phone call let alone get on a plane.”

At least 2 of the artists appearing at the event have left themselves open to potential media criticism due to their involvement in commercials advertising SUVs. R&B singer John Legend is featured in a new Lexus SUV commercial while Sheryl Crow's song Everyday Is A Winding Road is heard playing in an advertising campaign for Subaru SUVs.

In New Zealand, climate change activists in the Climaction Coalition have called people to protest on the day instead.[26] (The group previously organised a protest when Al Gore came to Auckland, accusing him of "greenwashing".)[27]

Before the goals of the concerts were announced on June 28, the concert was criticized by Live Aid organiser Sir Bob Geldof and Roger Daltrey of The Who about a lack of a final goal. Geldof said in an interview on May 15th, that the concerts are a waste of time.[28]

“ I hope they're a success. But why is Gore actually organising them? To make us aware of the greenhouse effect? Everybody's known about [the greenhouse problem] for years. We're all fucking conscious of global warming. Live Earth doesn't have a final goal. I would only organize [a gig like this] if I could go on stage and announce concrete environmental measures from the American presidential candidates, Congress or major corporations. They haven't got those guarantees. So it's just an enormous pop concert or the umpteenth time that, say, Madonna or Coldplay get up on stage. ”

He also criticized the choice of the name of the event, Live Earth "It sounds like Live 8. We're getting lots of responses from people who think we are organizing it."[29] Daltrey told The Sun on 19 May

“ Bollocks to that! The last thing the planet needs is a rock concert. I can't believe it. Let's burn even more fuel. We have problems with global warming, but the questions and the answers are so huge I don't know what a rock concert's ever going to do to help. Everybody on this planet at the moment, unless they are living in the deepest rainforest in Brazil, knows about climate change. My answer is to burn all the f*****g oil as quick as possible and then the politicians will have to find a solution.[30] ”

A spokesman for Live Earth has hit back on the comments, saying that the concerts are intended to raise awareness about the dangers of climate change. "People are aware of global warming but millions are not doing anything about changing their lifestyles."[31]. Al Gore responded to the criticism in an interview with The Sun on June 18th, saying that the concerts have specific goals, but they haven't been announced yet.

“ We will have specific goals that will be very significant and hard-hitting. We will announce those before the concert then emphasise them heavily during the concert. What Bob Geldof did with Live Aid and Live 8 was fantastic and he has followed up very diligently, as many of the others involved with Live Aid and Live 8 have. I’ve nothing but good things to say about them. These concerts would not be possible in any way without the pioneering and creativity of Geldof and those who helped him. But he has said in the aftermath of those efforts how important it is to have specific goals and a continuing follow-on effort and we have designed the Live Earth concerts in just that way.[32] ”

On June 21st it was reported that the Istanbul leg of Live Earth has been cancelled due to lack of sponsors and government support. Cengizhan Yeldan from Purple Concerts, the company organizing the event, denied these reports in a phone interview with Today's Zaman the same day, saying that while the organizers have faced financial problems, the concert will be held but there will be some slight changes to it. "The event might be smaller than we initially planned. But it is not canceled. The reports that appeared in newspapers today (Thursday) are not based on an official statement. … I would never let such a fiasco happen. We will go ahead with our plans. … We have already put a lot of investment in this task. Even if we do not have any sponsors, we will carry on with what we started and assume the rest of the costs." Yeldan added that the organizers are planning to make the concert free of charge, and that the lineup will include both international headliners and local acts. Also they will find a new venue for the event. "There are artists who've told us they will come and sing at the event even if they have to sing from a balcony." Yeldan said that official statements will be made at a later date when the details of the event become clearer.[33] On Tuesday June 26 the organizers announced they are pulling the Istanbul show out of the schedule due to lack of time.[34] Just days before the event, the concert in Rio De Janiero was reportedly cancelled due to a lack of security for the concert, but was later revived.[35]

One research organisation has accused the organisers of being worryingly uncommunicative over where the profits from the concerts will go: UK donor advisory service Intelligent Giving concluded, "This is at best, the most confused, and at worst, the most secretive charitable outfit we've come across."[36]

Global Warming is widely accepted by the scientific community, with far less dramatic repercussions, as well as less dramatic changes being necessary, if something is done as soon as possible to correct the problem, largely due to feedback. There are those such as John Berlau of the Competitive Enterprise Institute whom argue that the concerts are evidence of global warming hysteria jumping the shark [37], however.

Though falsely reported to be performing, Arctic Monkeys refused to play at the Wembley Stadium Live Earth show. Drummer Matt Helders says, "It's a bit patronising for us 21-year-olds to try to start to change the world, especially when we're using enough power for 10 houses just for stage lighting. It would be a bit hypocritical."[38]

Several prominent animal rights organizations have criticized the event for entirely overlooking the huge effect that the livestock industry has on global warming (as outlined in the 2006 United Nations report, ' Livestock's Long Shadow'). One such organization reported that the organizers of the South African event refused to supply them with a stall for the day as they didn't want to 'dilute the message'. Stall applicants in South Africa have also expressed outrage at what they view to be an unfairly high cost for hosting a stall - R9 000 / $1300, even for charities and non-profit organizations.