Happy UN-Earth Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8IozVfph7I

Who knew? It’s World Environment Day. This UN holiday doesn’t get as much press as Earth Day in the U.S., but this year it’s especially poignant since it comes exactly 6 months before the beginning of the Copenhagen Climate Change Conference, the successor to the ill-fated Kyoto Protocol. If you’re up for a bit of light reading this weekend, some of the documents covering the conference have been released; a refreshing glimmer of transparency. Otherwise, if you catch this in time, the Institute of Contemporary Art is having a free showing—along with venues around the world—of Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s documentary film, “Home.” The spectacular aerial imagery narrated by inveterate actress Glenn Close begins at 7PM, and the doors open at 6 this evening. However, if you can’t make it YouTube is hosting the entire film (in multiple languages) at http://www.youtube.com/homeproject along with commentary, making-of, etc. plus “Born to be wild: Giraffes on the move” and “Koyaanisqatsi.”

Obama Girl & Double Panes for Energy Efficiency

Energy Efficiency is cool!

Just check out the latest YouTube videos calling for the  greening of our lifestyle and reducing energy loss in our homes.  Obama Girl made her fame with her audacious “Crush on Obama” video.  In her most recent release “Save Your Energy”, Amber Lee Ettinger, dumps Russel Simmons from America’s Greenest Campus for her new energy efficient beau.

In another green video, a group of students also showcase their love for sustainable solutions with their Double Panes video for  an environmental films project out of Stanford University: www.grassfedfilms.org.  Check out how they promote Efficiency First with their play on Paper Planes by MIA:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pezKEkBIhqA

Coen Brothers lampoon ‘clean’ coal claims.

They’ve filmed murder mysteries in the middle of a Minnesota winter, Texas Border country manhunts and CIA shenanigans in the wilds of Washington D.C. Now the two-headed directing team known as the Brothers Coen are taking on the coal industry and their claims of ‘clean coal’ technology. Watch the first in a series of ads that imagine how household cleaning products would perform if they were made by the coal industry.

If the concept behind these ads seems familiar to those who follow the ad industry-it’s from industry hotshop Crispin Porter Bogusky, who was behind the ‘truth’ anti-smoking campaign that garnered so much attention over the last few years. Including this Super Bowl Ad ‘Shards o Glass’

Glad to see that when it comes to environmental messages, our ad industry friends can ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’

Will the Stimulus Bill produce a surge in energy efficiency projects?

When President Obama was interviewed on 60 Minutes a couple of months ago, he was asked if the drop in energy prices caused by the recession would cause him to delay many of the renewable energy and energy efficiency project he had talked about during his campaign.

His unequivocal answer to interviewer Steve Kroft: “It’s more important to do it now.”

The President has been good as his word, including close to $100 billion within the recently passed stimulus package. Yesterday’s New York Times details how that money will find its way into local communities and provide a much needed boost to their flagging economies.

Cambridge Energy Alliance on NOW

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HhYwgx449Nk

This PBS NOW show from last year is still an interesting watch for those interested in the Cambridge Energy Alliance’s model for immediate, real-world energy savings with proven, here-and-now tools and technologies. The folks at Warm Home Cool Planet always enjoy cutaway clips of our fair city: the show contains the following unattributed fun factoids and figures:

  • Cambridge is one of the greenest city in the country
    (according to POPSCI.COM we’re actually number 6, after Boston at 5.)
  • 80% of Cambridge’s carbon footprint comes from buildings
  • 25% of Cantabridgians walk to work
  • Cambridge is replacing its streetlights with LED-based models

Join Al Gore-Repower America

If you’re like Warm Home Cool Planet, you’ve probably seen a lot of ads on TV with the little green ‘we’ logo. This is part of a campaign from an organization called REPOweR AMERICA. It’s all part of a plan to build up grass roots support for developing alternative energy and putting it on the grid. Al Gore wants to send a message to your local congressman. Let them know we need to include the development of alternate energy in the economic stimulus plan being developed by the Obama Administration. You’ve seen what the power of Internet can do for politics. Let’s see what it can do for our country-and our planet.

The year Green Marketing Broke Through

I think we can all agree 2008 was an historic and constantly surprising year:

The folks over at Marketing Profs  also noted 2008 was the year major companies and major brands saw that terms like carbon footprints, CO2 emissions, alternative energy and energy efficiency weren’t going away. OK, so Warm Home Cool Planet is now part of the mainstream. What does that mean and where can we expect ‘green’ marketing to go in 2009.

Here are the some of the trends worth noting:

Green campaigns are being created and awarded. On the other hand, organizations who engage in ‘greenwashing’ (i.e. making false claims about their environmental record or the carbon footprint of their products) will be found out and called out by the many watchdog and activist groups using the Internet to make life difficult for these companies.

The bottled water industry has taken a beating recently as people began to realize there was something wrong with drinking a bottle of water transported from thousands of miles away when there is perfectly good drinking water coming out of tap just a few feet away. This kind of information-the kind that changes consumer perceptions–and behavior–is now being shared on the web at lightning speed.

If the car industry in America is ever going to make a comeback it will have to be within the next four years. They are in position to be first to market with an entirely electric car, which if it gains widespread acceptance will help them meet tougher emissions standards. If a universal health care plan is passed, it will also allow Detroit to compete with car companies located in countries where employers do not have to add employee healthcare costs to the price of their products.

In other words, despite the grim economics news, there is enough financial incentive, consumer demand, technological innovation and government assistance to make green products and the marketing of those products grow even more prevalent in 2009.

The First Mention Ever

Sent to us by a reader:

‘I just checked, and Barack Obama’s inaugural address was the first one to mention the role renewable energy will play in our future economic prosperity.”

Since Warm Home Cool Planet is a little too busy keeping our audience updated on all things energy efficient , we’re going to take your word for it, rather than read all other 55 inaugural addresses. There are some good ones though.

For those of you watching at home, you’ll find President Obama’s shout out to the alternative energy industry on the You Tube Clip posted below at 9:25.

Click here for the full text of President Obama’s inaugural address. If you haven’t already, we would definitely recommend taking 10 minutes out of your day.