Climate Culture

An interview with accidental movie star Al Gore

Al Gore is on the campaign trail again, and he actually seems to be enjoying it. Like Brad Pitt, but wonkier. Photo: Eric Neitzel/WireImage. For those who remember his ponderous, consultant-driven bid for president, the idea of Gore enjoying anything about campaigning may seem far-fetched. But this time, the campaign’s not about him; it’s about […]

Jason and Kimberley Graham-Nye, eco-diaper entrepreneurs, answer questions

The Graham-Nye clan. What are your job titles? Cofounders, CEO and president, dad and mum of gDiapers. What does your company do? Manufacture and market the world’s only flushable diaper. Every day in the U.S., 50 million waste-filled diapers go into the landfill where they sit for up to 500 years. Diapers are the third-largest […]

Umbra on organic cashews

Dear Umbra, I work in a grocery store. Recently a customer refused to purchase our cashews because they weren’t organic. Does it really matter if nuts are organic? Are they sprayed with chemicals during production? Did the customer have a point, or should she have sucked it up and bought our cashews? Brianna Farmington Hills, […]

From Beauty to Burgers

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 […]

Read and Green and Urban All Over

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 […]

How birding and blogging changed one soldier’s time in Iraq

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 […]

From Bo to ‘Boards

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: […]

Summer Rayne Oakes hosts new television show

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:

Media Shower: The MTV generation

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 about how to help stop global warming, break-ins to regularly scheduled programming that offer environmental lessons, multiple public service announcements (PSAs), and an MTV News package introducing BREAK THE ADDICTION, featuring a leading young environmental activist.

BREAK THE ADDICTION is MTV's year-long recovery program aimed at mobilizing a new generation of environmental activists. On-air, online and on wireless, the initiative will connect the audience to simple, daily tips, as well as in-depth resources, to help them recognize and change habits that harm the environment. Viewers will be directed online to think.mtv.com to quantify and track their efforts by the amount of carbon dioxide emissions and dollars saved due to changes they commit to making throughout the year. Supplemental MTV programming - both long-form and news packages - will air throughout the year and the tips will be revealed in daily PSAs on air on MTV, MTV2, and mtvU as well as online and delivered to cell phones. Additional PSAs will appear on mtv.com, mtv2.com, mtvU.com, MTV Overdrive and mtvU Über. Through partnerships with StopGlobalWarming.org, Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC), Grist.org, World Resources Institute, Student PIRGs, Campus Climate Challenge, and Clean Air-Cool Planet, MTV will go beyond the broadcasts to create online and wireless resources, as well as opportunities for grassroots organizing and outreach.

And as part of our partnership with MTV, we will be providing MTV with select Grist content over the next 12 months. Check it out.

Props to our marketing manager, Brendon Smyth, for making this happen.

Earth Day Network TV

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 and broadcast television networks and leading television production groups. The Earth Day TV Network will be available worldwide to anyone with high speed internet, and will look much like a regular television broadcast. EDN is partnering with Google Video as part of this IPTV launch.

For more info on today's live chat, go here.