Miss environmentality The newly crowned Miss Rhode Island has taped up her boobies, Vaselined her teeth, and strutted her stuff in a swimsuit and heels -- all in the service of fighting global warming. The tiara'd staffer for the Harvard Green Campus Initiative says it's all part of her plan to push the issue in front of millions of viewers at the Miss America pageant in 2007. Bring on the slumber party! Photo: Judith Potter, Potter Photography. Once upon a time in Hollywood Protecting the earth -- and coincidentally protecting your magisterial view -- is the new black in the …

Plans for an eco-city in China inspire a green neighborhood in London The world's largest eco-city is soon to be built in China, on an island at the mouth of the Yangtze River near Shanghai. Dongtan, being developed by London's Arup Urban Design, will consist of village-style neighborhoods and will emphasize pedestrian-friendliness, renewable-energy generation, and self-sufficiency in water and food. The city aims to generate zero carbon emissions and will have no landfill. It should be able to support a population of 80,000 by 2020, which may be not a moment too soon, as an estimated 300 million people will …

Glassing the evening sky for feather and foe. Photo courtesy of Jonathan Trouern-Trend. Jonathan Trouern-Trend has been a dedicated bird-watcher since he was about 12. So in 2004, when the now 38-year-old Connecticut National Guard sergeant got sent to Iraq, he had birds on the brain. While stationed at Camp Anaconda -- a huge American installation located about 40 miles north of Baghdad in the Sunni Triangle near the Tigris River -- Trouern-Trend got to know the better birding spots on the base, including a small lagoon and the camp dump. Since he was working in intelligence, the base MPs …

Bo, you do know diddly In honor of Global Love Day (serious!), we're spreadin' the love this week. And where better to start than with Bo Derek? The notorious "10" was just named U.S. special envoy on wildlife trafficking. Which we're sure is unrelated to her wild times with Bush's new chief of staff. Photo: Steve Granitz/WireImage.com Tribe, tribe again We love daydreaming about escaping to some remote utopia -- usually Saskatchewan. But some people go beyond daydreams: the Brits behind tribewanted are looking to populate an eco-colony on an island in Fiji, and a group of Danes is working …

Back in February, I mentioned that Summer Rayne Oakes was filming a "new, entertaining, environmentally-charged show." After contacting the eco-fashionista's PR firm, I was told I would be among the first to get more details. "Yeah, right," is what I thought to myself. Yet, months later, what do I find in my inbox but a press release: Big Durian Productions announces the move to sign model and environmental activist Summer Rayne Oakes as one of the hosts for the upbeat, environmentally-charged show, Eco 4 the World. E4W is a multimedia environmental "edutainment" program designed in partnership with the United Nation's …

A lot of media companies have been jumping on the stop-global-warming bandwagon lately, but few are as influential with the kids as MTV: Following President Bush's State of the Union declaration earlier this year that "America is addicted to oil," MTV announced today the network's latest pro-social initiative, BREAK THE ADDICTION, a year-long campaign to engage, educate and empower young people to take simple, daily actions that can have a measurable impact in the fight against global warming. The campaign will launch with a channel takeover on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, including an on-air, online and wireless messaging campaign …

Today, the Earth Day Network launched Earth Day Network TV (currently streaming: a live panel discussion on matters earthly, accompanied by a live chat). You'll also find a variety of videos submitted from different groups, on subjects ranging from renewable energy to climate change to trailers for environmental-media projects. Here is some info included in an email that I received back in March: [The network] will include hours of interviews, documentaries, film clips and compelling visual and interactive information on climate change from leading independent films such as "Nobelity" and "The Great Warming", cable television networks such as Lime, public …

The Ghostface of Earth Day present Want to celebrate Earth Day, but don't wanna roll wit dem punk-ass bitchez? Stop by NYC's Green Apple Music and Arts Festival and catch a set by Ghostface Killah, who shared these words of wisdom about the importance of conscientious environmental stewardship: "I don't know nothing about that." Word, Killah. Photo: Gary Gershoff/WireImage.com Illy Eliot Want to celebrate Earth Day, but think Ghostface fell the f*ck off after Supreme Clientele? Stop by a Spitzer 2006 Earth Day House Party in New York and enjoy the dope rhymes of MC Spitz, who's been bustin' caps …

With Earth Day fast approaching, we're pleased to bring you the First Ever List of Grist Superlatives. It's our modest take on the year past, and a few predictions for things to come. Miffed about what we missed? You're welcome to make additions in Gristmill. Soaking up the Sundance. Photo: Eric Neitzel/ WireImage.com. Most improbable movie star: Al Gore Scariest preview of coming attractions: Katrina Species most likely to go extinct within the year: climate skeptic Mega-corporation we love to hate ... or is it hate to love? (tie): General Electric; "Beyond" Petroleum Most hackneyed phrase: "Green is the new …

Wednesday, 19 Apr 2006 New York, N.Y. Why was last night different from all other nights on which people have gathered to party for an environmental crusade? Because it was the launch party for the first green issue of Vanity Fair -- a glossy, celebrity-drenched cry to mainstream America that global warming is "a threat graver than terrorism." About 450 people -- from friends of the magazine to a cross-section of New York City's green activists -- packed the swanky second floor of event co-sponsor ABC Home, a retailer of domestic luxe. They schmoozed, strategized, and even got a rousing …