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Syriana goes climate neutral

Hot off the (press release) presses:

In a groundbreaking move, Warner Bros. Pictures and Participant Productions have made Syriana, a multi-layered political thriller about the global oil industry, the first major motion picture to be "climate neutral" by offsetting 100% of carbon dioxide emissions generated by the production during filming -- an estimated 2,040 tons -- with investments in renewable energy. Investments will be made in wind and methane power and, specifically, in projects that may not otherwise happen without this support.

NativeEnergy worked with Syriana's producers to calculate the amount of carbon dioxide emissions from all of Syriana's production activities, including filming, air travel, rental car and truck emissions, hotel energy use, diesel generators used on location, office and warehouse energy use, and emissions from shipping. NativeEnergy then offset those emissions by purchasing renewable energy credits, or "green tags," from renewable energy projects.

(I added the links. Haven't found the press release online yet -- will link when I do.)

Pretty cool.

Update [2006-1-18 15:15:9 by David Roberts]: Hm ... DavoJ says in comments that The Day After Tomorrow was in fact the first climate-neutral blockbuster, and IMDb at least seems to back him up. Anybody got more info on this?

Al Gore: The Movie

There's an interesting piece in the L.A. Times about the documentary on Al Gore and global warming that's going to debut at Sundance. (We will, if all goes well, have a review of the film before too long.)

They've got some pretty impressive firepower behind it:

EarthEngine.net

A word of counsel to the new and potential-laden earthengine.net: Just because you can do something in Flash doesn't mean you should.

Internet shopping and the environment

Ever wondered about the impact of internet shopping on the environment? Me neither, but thankfully the folks over at Gotham Gazette are all over it. On the plus side, there are fewer vehicle-miles logged shopping. On the negative side, there's lots and lots and lots of recycling: Cardboard boxes, styrofoam, packaging, etc.

I like this idea:

Montana’s landscape is changing — will America’s be next?

Montana's governor is a politician of such breathtaking dexterity, ability, and raw, hungry, political instinct that your first thought upon witnessing him -- no matter whether you're a Republican or Democrat -- is likely to be, "When does he explode, and in what manner?" For rarely in American politics has anyone this good been that way indefinitely.

Land-rich regions’ residents tell hungry politicians to back off

It is difficult to recognize change while living through it. However, two recent decisions involving the use of the public’s lands signal a historic political and policy transition, particularly here in the Rocky Mountain West. The first of those two is the almost unanimous rejection by Western governors of the Bush administration’s multiyear attempt to […]

I Am Dyin’, Hear Me Roar

Lion advocates support trophy hunting to help save big cats When one contemplates saving an endangered species, one’s thoughts naturally turn to … shooting it. (Wait, yours don’t?) So it is with the fast-shrinking lion population of southern and eastern Africa: A historic meeting of conservationists, regional government representatives, and safari hunters last week in […]

Here Today, Oregon Tomorrow

Feds say local recovery plan is enough to save Oregon’s coastal coho Oregon coastal coho salmon will not be returned to the federal threatened species list. The National Marine Fisheries Service says there’s no need for federal protections, crediting improving fish numbers to the recovery plan developed by a coalition of local, state, and federal […]

Keeping Up With the Bushes

Conservative Canadian politico vows to back out of Kyoto agreement As Canada’s federal election looms — yes, Canada is having an election — Conservative leader Stephen Harper is campaigning on virtually abandoning the Kyoto accord on climate change. Harper, who proclaimed in 2004 that the treaty would never become international law (oops), says victorious Conservatives […]

Already the Kennedy wind controversy is a target of fatuous bloviating

Sigh. The whole flap over Bobby Kennedy and the Cape Cod wind farm is first and foremost a distraction. In anything you've read about it, have you seen any statistics? How many wind farms are being actively fought by locals? How many of those on environmental grounds? Has Kennedy taken stands on other wind farms? What does the environmental impact statement on the wind farm say?

You're unlikely to get any actual information from stories about the hubbub. Instead, expect a bunch of fatuous trend pieces (environmentalists divided!) and fatuous hypocrisy charges (environmentalists won't take their own medicine!). Expect fatuity. The whole damn thing is a big Fatuity Generator.

Exhibit A: Conservative NYT columnist John Tierney addressed the controversy yesterday (yes, I know, you can't read it). Here's an excerpt: