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Much ado about nothing, or an inconvenient truth?

Naysayers are jumping with glee about the report which claims that Al Gore uses excessive amounts of energy in his home, released the day after “An Inconvenient Truth” won the Oscar. Gore’s defenders point to his carbon off-setting program which minimizes the harm of his personal energy use.

Click here to read about Gore as energy guzzler.

Click here to read about Gore as committed eco – activist.

I find this debate on Gore a bore. He made an effective documentary. He won an Oscar. Move on.

After spending hours on the web trying to figure out which celebrity got to ride in the Tesla Roadster Oscar night, I was relieved to see that my inability to find the answer was not a function of my searching skills – evidently there is scant reporting on green vehicles from the red carpet.

Ecorazzi has tidbits on Leo DiCaprio’s ride and Al Gore’s choice of transportation, but still no answer to the million dollar question. Watch this space.

Here’s what Helios House, the nation’s first certifiably green gasoline station (full story here), will have:

A futuristic metal canopy with shiny triangles of uncoated, recyclable stainless steel

A rooftop that holds 90 solar panels

A collection system that gathers rainfall to irrigate drought-tolerant plants, whose
underside is outfitted with low-energy lighting.

Members of the station’s “green team” to check the tire pressure on customers’ cars and advise that properly inflated tires boost gas mileage

Energy-saving tips, printed on recycled paper embedded with flower seeds that sprout when the card is planted in the ground

Eco-vignettes and green videos on screens built into the fuel dispensers

Here’s what Helios House won’t have:

Eco-friendly gas

Is the pump half empty or half full?

In a two-pronged approach to encourage eco-friendly behavior, as of March 15th, IKEA US will charge 5 cents for every plastic bag their customers use, while their reusable “Big Blue Bag” will be reduced from 99 cents to 59 cents (thanks to TreeHugger for this scoop):

“Proceeds of up to $1.75 million (that’s a whole lot of bags) from the bag campaign will go to American Forests, the nation’s oldest non-profit citizens conservation organization, to plant trees to restore forests and offset CO2 emissions.”

Are plastic bags destined to go the way of LPs and Polaroid one-step cameras, for our grandchildren to examine with wonder, or are they too entrenched in our shopping habits to become relics of the past?

Watch out Londoners! Orlando Bloom, Pirates of the Caribbean star, is building a home with the latest and greatest in environmental technology (details here). I wonder how Penelope Cruz, rumored to be his latest love, feels about solar panels on the roof and dinner by fluorescent light.

Want to live like Orlando? We offer books on building solar homes at the IDT Energy Store.

The TXU Corporation, long reviled for its lack of sensitivity to environmental issues, is poised to be bought by two private equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis and Texas Pacific, for about $45 billion, the largest buyout in history. As part of the terms of the buyout, the TXU Corporation would make serious modifications to their plans to build 11 new coal plants, and follow a set of environmental policies.

The New York Times explains why TXU would need to go green as part of the buyout:

“Because private equity firms are unregulated and historically have valued their privacy, neither Kohlberg Kravis nor Texas Pacific were eager to become an ‘enemy combatant’ of the environmental groups, people involved in the talks said. Reducing the coal plant initiative will also free up billions of dollars in planned spending that the firms will be able to use for other projects or to help finance the transaction.

Within TXU, the controversial plan to build a raft of coal plants had become so damaging to its stock price that its board had been privately weighing a plan to scrap part of the project, said people involved in the talks, bringing the number of new plants to 5 or 6 from 11.”

Yet another example of environmental considerations making financial sense. Goodbye granola, hello corporate America.

Hats off to Al Gore, and the Oscars — seems that people are taking a look at global warming seriously.

Here is the CNN Article:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/25/oscar.advance/index.html

Now that you are excited, how about ordering the film?   Let’s support our environmental programs!

Order here: http://www.climatecrisis.net/aboutthefilm/

Now are you ready to do YOUR part in the action plan?  Support our GREEN campaign and switch to green today!

Click here! http://www.idtenergy.com/green/

A group of friends at a dinner party in San Francisco, concerned about the environment and their rapid accumulation of “stuff,” made a pact not to buy anything new for six months ( full story here)

The ground rules:

No buying new things except for food, health-related items and personal things, like socks and underwear.

Intangible pleasures, like travel, sports, music and other cultural activities, are OK.

Known as The Compact, the group now boasts around 8,000 members, with participants in Europe and Australia as well, with an aim towards environmental gain.

I can handle not shopping for 6 months - Just don’t make me join the raw food group.

This is a fun one: PC Magazine’s list, with pictures, of 10 Stupid Solar-Powered Products.

Why did a solar-powered mole chaser make the list?

For smart solar-powered products check out the IDT Energy Store.

Check out 18Seconds.org, a new site which promotes switching to CFLs, with a map showing CFL use by state. Packed with statistics, this fact-filled site has done its homework.

TreeHugger makes an interesting connection between the debut of 18Seconds.org and GE’s announcement about a new and improved incandescent bulb:

“Kevin Nolan, Vice President of Technology for GE Consumer & Industrial, said: ‘In addition to offering significant energy savings comparable to CFLs, the 21st century version of Edison’s bulb provides all the desirable benefits including light quality and instant-on convenience as incandescent lamps currently provide at a price that will be less than CFLs. We and other lighting manufacturers have been aggressive in developing and marketing CFLs. But consumers want more options and we plan to respond to their needs and deliver environmental benefits, too..’ ”

Is GE’s timing a response to 18Seconds.org, as TreeHugger thinks? How come they were not running scared when Wal-Mart’s CFL campaign made a splash?

Time to speak up, you millions out there who read this blog and don’t comment.