Avatar Proves We Can’t All Get Along

All you need is love...

As a few of you many know, I study film in school – which makes me a bit of a pop culture fanatic. Naturally, this passion, coupled with a long-harbored affection for Titanic, led to my interest in director James Cameron’s most recent project, Avatar. I’m sure I don’t have to give a plot summary – many of you contributed to its $1 billion box office roundup – but for those of you who don’t know…

SPOILERS! Avatar is the story of paraplegic soldier Jake Sully (Sam Worthington). In his quest for physical freedom, he agrees to travel to the world of Pandora, where a priceless metal is hidden beneath the grounds of the Na’vi people. Jake agrees to dig up as much information as he can on Pandora by going undercover, using the body of a human/Na’vi avatar – hence the title. Seduced by the use of his legs in the alternate reality, he ignores the greedy businessmen who are willing to destroy the Na’vi people, and their beautiful land, for a share.

Love, in the form of Pandorian Neytiri (Zoe Saldana), will reform Jake, forcing him to consider the lives of others before the complete use of his body. Jake must stand up to the men hellbent on destroying Pandora for their natural resource. Hmm. And so life imitates art – or art imitates life. And according to The New York Times‘ Patrick Goldstein, “America’s prickly cadre of political conservatives” aren’t happy about it. Righties have slammed the film’s pro-environment/anti-corporation stance, as well as its anti-military undertones. He quotes John Nolte, who described the film as…

Yes We Can!

According to Sloan Barnett, the New York Times best-selling author behind Green Goes With Everything, our color of choice can even coordinate with red, white and blue. That’s why Barnett is asking you how you would green the First Family’s official residence.

Green the White House is a campaign to educate Obama’s staff on the importance of setting an example by making the casa blanca entirely green, from the light bulbs to the gardens. One suggestion: making the Rose Garden pesticide-free. Have a brighter idea than LEDs? Share it with American on GreentheWhiteHouse.com. You can submit your ideas via video on the site. 

The advisory board includes Frances Beinecke, the President of the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as two of Yale’s best from the Environmental Law department. (Don’t hold it against them that they gave W. a degree.)

At the end of the campaign, five teens who submit ideas will be awarded an iPod shuffle, among other prizes, courtesy of youth activist group, Do Something. Here are the organization’s official rules.

C’mon – do it for your country.

XO, The Green Gamine

Be a patriot. Follow my tweets.

Fall Back, Sunshine: Obama Considers Global Cooling

The Obama administration announces that global warming is worse than ever and that it plans to take some radical action in an attempt to reverse the damage. One drastic option is to shoot pollution particles into the air to reflect the sunshine. Talk about progressive.

They’re calling this new chemical and physical science combination geoengineering, the controversial science of tinkering with the climate to save the ice, and the polar bears while they’re at it. Since the consequences of avoiding the issue can be “really intolerable,” says John Holden, a concerned physicist, now is the time to act. The British Parliament is also considering the idea. 

Holden does warn us against going to extremes. While he agrees that geoengineering should be kept on the back burner just in case, he thinks some ideas go a step too far – like one Nobel laureate’s concoction of a faux-volcano. Still, he admits, desperate times may call for desperate measures.

Do you think we have to reinvent the environment to save it?

XO, The Green Gamine

Treehuggers, Start Your Engines.

In attempt to maintain my one-sided love affair with Al Gore, I regularly receive updates in the form of e-mails from Repower America, a sub-sect of the Alliance for Climate Protection. Today, I received a “personal e-mail” from Ms. Cathy Zoi, the organization’s CEO. 

As a member of the We Campaign, I have been called upon to write a note to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking them to fight the good fight and honor California’s waiver request for higher eco-standards in cars. Fifty thousand messages have been sent thus far – the goal was to send another 50,000 today. 

 Here’s a note from Deirdre, hailing from the Golden State:

“I support Repower America because I care about the future of the Earth. Because I love my 8-year-old daughter, who asked me tonight ‘Mama, will there be enough trees to give us air in 100 years?'”

My pledge.

California is not the only state fighting against those four-wheeled polluters. Thirteen other states are also on board.

Some have argued that this should not be a state effort. Others believe that the auto industry doesn’t need encouragement to go green – just look at the Prius! But Repower America won’t stop fighting until every American car drives au naturale.

The website breaks down the supporter count by state and offers its vital stats. I’ll share the New Jersey tidbit with you, courtesy of  the Center for American Progress, as I grew up on hairspray and proper beaches:

New Jersey is successfully promoting renewable energy installations in the state; however, it currently generates most of its electricity from nuclear (52%) and natural gas (25%). If New Jersey invests $3.2 billion on energy efficiency and other clean energy resources, like wind, solar and biomass, the state can gain over 57,000 new green jobs within two years.

Governor Corzine is already making significant steps towards this goal with his energy master plan, which would employ between 1,500 to 2,000 people over 6-12 months in new, clean energy businesses, cut energy demand by 20% by 2020, and create an additional 20,000 “green-collar” jobs by that same year.

Considering that my roots have contributed to destroying the ozone layer, I’m pretty pumped about the advances. Stop by the site and put in your own two cents.

XO, The Green Gamine

Happy Birthday, Mr. Presidents.

(AP/kidthing.com)

Sure, seven-year-old, four-eyed delight Aaron Van Blerkom, may be snagging all the spotlight by asking our newly appointed Santa Claus to make it rain candy (that’s your cue, Obama). And with a smile like that, who could resist that sly dog?

However, at three years his senior, I find Miss Sasha Townsend‘s request a bit more timely (and gamine to say the least). While witnessing the inauguration both in and outside of D.C., Townsend, along with over 4,500 other children, scribbled political pleas to President Obama – a laundry list of concerns from a four-foot perspective.

Co-sponsored by the National Education Association and kidthing.com, the campaign was entitled the “Dear Mr. President” project. One hundred and fifty of the most urgent (or perhaps most hilarious in the case of Mr. Van Blerkom) were considered for a free compilation e-book, which was released today.

Here is what Miss Townsend, at the innocent age of 10, had to contribute:

“I would appreciate it if you would try to make this a greener planet and try to bring home the troops and end the war,” the fifth-grader wrote. “I am very luckey because I am not part of a military family, but it saddens me to hear about all the people who die in Iraque and know that somewhere In the world people are greiving over a lost family member.”

Stop war and make the world a greener place – two of the most pertinent issues on Obama’s short list. Other issues that made the cut included the recession, disaster relief, and medical cures for diseases such as AIDs and cancer. A hardcover edition of the e-book will be sent to the President himself. Sweet, though not nearly as sustainable.

The e-book, on the other hand, simultaneously teaches kids the importance of literacy and sustainability. Though, considering the letters themselves, the only thing we need to teach these kids is how to make their dreams a reality. (Once we figure it out for ourselves, we should let them know.)

My oh my, we are raising idealistic children these days. Still, I think we have something to learn from them. If a ten-year-old girl is aware of the importance of going green, we old farts (in comparison) certainly have no excuse.

Now, use your day off wisely and go plant a tree.

XO, The Green Gamine

P.S. Here’s a clip of the students who wrote for the “Dear Mr. President” project. Too cute – and all too relevant.

Obama: The Wizard of Oz?

(treehugger.com)

President Obama seems to have designed a stimulus plan that will turn our whitewashed capital into the Emerald City. Now, with that plan passed in part, our president can lay the first brick in our yellow brick road back to economic stability. He’s spoken about greening the country and the economy, offering more opportunities for the newly coined “green collar” worker. But just how green is Obama’s new plan?

In an EcoSolutions article featured on CNN.com, some experts weighed in. World Resources Institute worker, Robert Heilmayr, says that, “green components have a long-term efficiency gain.” He also claims that for every billion dollars invested in green energy, there will be a $450 million surplus.

Obama himself has said: “I don’t care whether you’re driving a hybrid or an SUV — if you’re headed for a cliff, you’ve got to change direction. Some alternatives to our current, wayward path? Improved fuel efficiency, for starters, along with the state-regulated, vehicle emission standards. 

However, some startling amendments have been made to the stimulus bill. The energy efficient federal building fund has gone from $7 million to $3.5 million, only 25% of the Environmental Protection Agency Superfund has stuck, and the Energy Loan Guarantees are out entirely.

Seems like a Catch 22. We need to jump start the economy as fast as we can and yet, does that mean we disregard our immediate surroundings, without which a stable economy would be irrelevant? I’m sure Obama will find alternatives; green tax cuts, for instance, have been proposed. The problem seems to stem not from a misunderstanding on the part of our new leader, but on his fickle senate.

The long-term investment in energy is just the first step in creating an economy that will last us beyond the Obama administration. Science and studies have proven that we can trust in the technology and in the kickback. What are we waiting for?

XO, The Green Gamine