Current TV Gives Viewers "60 Seconds to Save the Earth"
by Collin Dunn, Corvallis, OR, USA on 07. 9.07
During Saturday’s Live Earth concerts, Al Gore and Cameron Diaz (better known as "Professor Diaz" by some around here), on behalf of Current TV and in association with the Alliance for Climate Protection, announced the “:60 Seconds to Save the Earth” contest. The contest challenges viewers across the US, UK and the Republic of Ireland to create 15-, 30- or 60-second "ecospot" PSAs about taking action or motivating change to help fight the climate crisis.
“Today we are asking young adults to take a stance and use their creative voices to encourage change and help fight the climate crisis,” said Al Gore, who's also Chairman of Current TV.
Cameron Diaz went on to add, “:60 Seconds to Save the Earth is a great, creative way for young people from around the world to help inspire the changes they'd like to see for the planet.” After the jump: see Cameron in action, describing the contest in a video promo, as well as a viewer-produced video that demonstrates the concept and more details about the contest. ::Current TV Ecospot
Cameron Diaz introduces the contest, in a promo that will play on Current as well
Lights Off!: A viewer-produced video
Joining Diaz on the judging panel are Orlando Bloom, George Clooney , director Sam Mendes, Alex Bogusky of leading ad agency Crispin Porter + Bogusky, legendary advertising director Joe Pytka and Cathy Zoi, the founding CEO of the Alliance. They'll narrow the field of entries to 20, and then viewers will vote on their favorite to select the winners. The top Ecospots will also be broadcast on Current, showcased on MySpace's Impact channel, and featured in the Alliance's national campaign.
The contest is open through September 12, 2007; be sure to read the fine print when submitting, and note that the best Ecospot receives a Toyota Highlander Hybrid. Remember, your spot must be exactly :15, :30, or :60 seconds, and must include Current's endtag (which is 5 seconds; download it here). Get those cameras rolling, and stay tuned for more as the contest rolls on. ::Current TV's Ecospot Contest
An SUV is the prize? I wonder which shows more that I am an environmentalist: winning the prize or declining it. I remember I felt the same way about the Treehugger contest. The main prize was an ecovacation trip to Alaska - on the other side of the planet from me. I considered entering the contest only to realize that I simply can't hype what I am doing to reduce my environmental impacts in order to win a prize that makes a mockery of my video and my attempts to minimize my impacts. There was one prize, an electric bike, which I thought deserved to be a prize that correspondended with the intent of the video - but that was for third place. Who knows, I could have gotten lucky and won third place. I don't want to discourage these kinds of contests. I think they are great. But it de-inspires me to see the prizes. Couldn't the prize be the most impressive electric bike on the market? Or at least the most fuel-efficient car on the market? Or how about a renewable energy system for the winner's home - now that is something to inspire and incentivize a true environmentalist to make a great 60 sec video! I'm considering making a clip for this contest (if I have time) but that SUV is a real turn-off.
That SUV has the best emissions available on the market from a gasoline-fueled personal vehicle. It also gets about 30 mpg - more than 50% better than the average US vehicle.
Just because it's not a sedan doesn't make it bad.
As for the prizes they give, it's dependent on the sponsor. It's not like they raise cash and then go buy the prizes.
'That SUV has the best emissions available on the market from a gasoline-fueled personal vehicle. It also gets about 30 mpg - more than 50% better than the average US vehicle.'
It doesn't matter if it has the best emissions for an SUV. What if they offered a private jet plane as the prize? Would it suddenly be an acceptable green prize because it gets the best emissions in its category? My TOYOTA car, a Yaris, puts out considerably less CO2 and gets 40 MPG. I am now considering buying a new car within the next couple of years, and right now my eye is on a TOYOTA Aygo (a diesel) which gets 60 MPG, which I would fuel with biodiesel and which would put out even less CO2 than my Yaris. And neither of those cars are hybrids. Why was it necessary to choose a TOYOTA SUV that gets 30 MPG as the prize? If it is about the hybrid thing, couldn't they have offered the TOYOTA Prius as the prize, which gets 55 MPG and puts out less emissions than my Yaris and way less than the Highlander? Second, its not difficult to beat the average US vehicle MPG - I could go to a car dump and find a car that gets 50% better.
'Just because it's not a sedan doesn't make it bad.'
If the prize were a 'green' jet plane, how would you feel about someone saying: 'Just because it's not an SUV doesn't make it bad'?
'As for the prizes they give, it's dependent on the sponsor. It's not like they raise cash and then go buy the prizes. '
If the sponsor is TOYOTA, I have already mentioned three cars that give much better MPG and much lower CO2 emissions - Yaris, Aygo, Prius. All of which I am sure cost TOYOTA less money to manufacture. And cost less to buy. The Highlander choice has little to nothing to do with sponsorship 'dependance'.
I love Toyota. But not all of their cars should automatically be considered green. And not all hybrids should automatically be considered green. The highlander is definitely a green SUV, but the Yaris is a greener vehicle. And the Prius much greener than both. And a bike greenest of all. A site and competition promoting people to act to solve global warming should be pushing the greenest options - bikes, public transport, walking - and if they promote cars than they should be the very best, either small cars or cars like the Prius which get exceptional MPG. I'm not saying green SUVs don't have their place. Someone who authentically NEEDS an SUV should get the Highlander. But few people who have SUVs truly need them. And I very much doubt that anyone who wins this competitions will either.
I totally agree that the prize seems mis-matched.
But houston, we have a problem. I believe the Yaris is a fairly new car. And you are going to buy another new car in a couple of years?
Buying new cars to save energy, no matter what kind, is so far from green, it's black.
Sorry for this late reply. Haven't checked this post in a while. I bought my Yaris in the beginning of 2000. I plan to buy a new car when my Yaris is about 10 years old. I will keep the Yaris for a few years after that but use it minimally after that - only on those rare occassions that warrant its use. So I guess the question is what do you mean by new car? Is a ten year old car a new car in your opinion? Or the same question in reverse would be: how old does a car have to be before it warrants purchase of a new car in terms of energy savings and CO2 reductions?